Path To Power
by Asmarath
Summary: Naruto lost everything in the Massacre, but awakened the Rinnegan. Leaving him alone in the world with his adoptive brother Sasuke. Realizing it was up to him, he will seek out power anyway he can. On Hold.
1. Chapter 1: Brothers

**Chapter 1**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

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Uchiha Naruto, the oldest living member of the Uchiha clan that still was loyal to Konoha, kicked the covers from his bed and swung his feet over the edge, resting them on the cold marble floor. He tilted his head from side to side, straining to work out the knots in his neck and shoulders. There was still some fatigue in them from his training yesterday; in fact, he felt his entire body strain as he moved.

When he finally rose he did so with an audible grunt. Exhaling slowly, he stretched with his arms high above his head. Both feeling and hearing the popping sound of the vertebra along his spine loosening. Tipping on his toes, trying to reach the roof with his fingertips, but there was a long way left before he could feel the texture of the roof. His thirteen year old body simply didn't have the length to reach that far, yet.

Pleased, he lowered his arms and went over to the cupboard standing on the left side of the bed. The cabinet had received several scratch marks on its left side from grinding into the edge of the bed, and looked worn down. Scooping up a pair of dark pants and putting them on, he slipped out of the bedchamber into the hallways of the mansion. This place had been his home as far as he could remember, his earliest memory was from being outside on the mansions own training field practicing with his brother.

Shining tapestries adorned the walls and colorful hand-woven rugs lined the corridors as he passed door after door. Each room decorated with custom made furniture, arts, and other signs of wealth. It took a little more than a minute to reach the backdoor leading out to the open air ground. As the door opened, the cold air of the night assaulted his naked upper body making him shiver. Barefooted he stepped out on the ground, the coldness creeping up his feet.

But he ignored the chill of the night and began going through some taijutsu motions, his joints creaking as he did them. When he was satisfied his body had warmed up enough he began performing blocks and counters, trying to defeat his invisible opponent. As the fight continued, his awareness of the cold and all other thoughts disappeared, all focus on performing the sequences right. The soles of his feet slapped softly against the ground as he moved back and forth, leaving marks on the damp ground.

He crouched low and jumped, feeling the air push against his body as the height increased. Performing the necessary hand seals, he felt the faint spark, the small flicker of light and heat travel along his body up to his mouth and thought, Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu). The area blossomed into an orange cloud of heat, light and smoke, he imagined his opponent writhing in pain as the flames engulfed his body from all sides. Landing with a grin, the flames died down leaving only scorched earth behind.

Naruto always felt pleased and invigorated after a training session, especially after a good one. Observing the sky and seeing the sun rise in the horizon, it would be morning soon. The orange red light illuminating the village was a beautiful sight to witness, and he found himself standing there watching it for several minutes before turning around and heading inside the mansion.

He was careful to wipe his feet before entering and then crossed the corridors into the nearest bathroom. Turning on the water on the sink and while waiting for it to get warmer, inspecting his face. A sweat pearl had formed and was in the process of falling down his forehead, eventually finding itself to his brow. When it fell down, Naruto's fixed his gaze on his eyes as it passed by. Those ripple pattern eyes with purple iris and sclera of his stared back at him, his eyes had been like this ever since the massacre of his clan occurred.

His fists clenched, the nails digging into the palm of his hand as the thought came into his mind. Hate and pain filled his entire being every time he thought about the massacre five years ago. His adoptive older brother, Uchiha Itachi, had killed off every member of his family and clan, all except for himself and his adoptive brother Sasuke. Even thou he was born into the Uchiha clan, he never knew his father or mother. Instead he had been adopted by Uchiha Mikoto and her husband Fugaku.

They were the only family he had and the only family he would ever need, but all that was taken away from him five years ago, leaving him alone in the world with his slightly younger brother Sasuke. It was during this incident his eyes had awakened, according to the Sandaime Hokage they were called the Rinnegan and once belonged to the father of all ninja, the Sage of the Six Paths. The pain of seeing his adoptive parents die was what triggered the transformation.

The steady stream of water had finally gotten warm; he splashed some water on his face and wiped it off with a towel. Breathing slow and steady he slipped out of the room and continued back to his bedchamber in order to get some rest before the day really started.

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The nightmare was familiar, yet still terrifying.

_He was eight years old again, a young boy that just had finished his training in the night. The village was silent, empty and calm. His fatigued body bringing him back to the Uchiha compound with heavy steps. He really had pushed himself too far during his training, it happened rather easily when no one was around to check on him. _

_His father had ordered him not to go out at night and train, but he never listened, the freedom and silence the night brought was enough for him. It was one of these nights when he traveled back home it happened, entering the Uchiha district they're bodies everywhere. Just lying there, unmoving. Stumbling on his feet and falling to the ground, he saw the red liquid flowing down the ground. _

_Death was all around him, making him breathe fast and erratic. His legs brought him to his house to the best of their capacity. The door was slightly opened creating as small crack. He could see his brother standing inside, his cold dead eyes staring at the something. Sasuke switched his angle, his other brother had his knees on the ground, and breathing short fast breathes. It was then he saw the bodies behind him, it was his parents. _

"_This can't be real, you can't be my brother." Naruto says._

"_I've played the part of the elder brother you always wanted." Still staring with his cold eyes. "In order to measure your capacity."_

_Tears begins to fall down Naruto's cheeks. _

"_You have the potential sleeping inside you to become an opponent I can truly test my limits against." Itachi's black hair shifted in the wind. "Feelings of jealousy and hatred for me has filled your head, you've done nothing but hope to surpass me."_

"_That's why I'm letting you live." Itachi chuckled quickly and changed his gaze towards him, staring directly into his eyes. "Foolish little brother…If you truly want to kill me, hate me! Detest me! Live a wretched miserable existence. Run, run and cling to life."_

_The expression in his older brother's eyes was something he had never seen before, and those sharingan eyes turning into a pinwheel was the last thing he could see before the darkness engulfed him. _

Sasuke woke with a start, wiping away the sweat from his forehead. Even now, five years later, he still had this nightmare from time to time. Taking long slow breaths he let the calm wash over him.

The first rays of the morning sun shine through the window. Knowing he wouldn't be able to fall back asleep, Sasuke kicked aside the sheets and got up. The memory of the massacre always filled him with shame, pain and hate. His father had been a strong man—a man of indomitable will and courage. His mother had been caring and lovely, it was he who was weak. How he wished he could change the outcome of that day, but he knew it was useless to think about it.

Crossing the room to his wardrobe, he began to shift through the large collection of clothes, trying to decide what to wear. His entire childhood had been spent wearing fine clothing of many fabrics; he could even go a whole month without wearing the same outfit twice. He didn't dream about the massacre every night, not that often in fact. Usually it was his brother Naruto who had the nightmares, but every now and then he too would have it.

He finally selected a pair of white shorts and a blue, short-sleeved shirt with a raised collar adorning the Uchiha crest on the back. All the shirts in the entire house had the crest on its back, proudly telling the world who its wearer belonged to. He didn't really care how he looked, he could probably show up in a chicken suit and the girls in the academy would still fawn over him. The same could be said with his brother Naruto, but his cold demeanor kept most of them away.

With nothing left to do he continued his morning routine and went for breakfast.

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Naruto awoke for the second time this day; the strain of his nightly exercise had disappeared during the rest. Wasting no time he went straight for the wardrobe and pulled out a short black shirt robe with green trimmings, dark pants, and a black and white belt that he tied in front with mesh armor underneath. His stomach grumbled, yearning for sustenance as he got clothed.

He slipped through the door and down the corridor, turning around he saw his brother already eating at the table. He nodded to him and observed the tired expression his brother had.

"How did you sleep?" Naruto asked, stepping into the kitchen and going towards the frying pan on the right. Smelling the fried bacon in it.

"Not well," Sasuke admitted.

There was no point in lying to Naruto who had been his only family for the past five years. He would see right through it.

"The nightmare again?"

Sasuke nodded, but didn't say any more. None of them liked to repeat what happened that day and therefore left it alone. Sweeping up some bacon to his plate, Naruto seated himself opposite to his brother, both eating in silence for the time being.

Eventually Sasuke broke the silence. "We still up for training after the academy?"

"Sure, but I'll need to go and buy more kunai and shuriken. Our stock is getting low."

Sasuke nodded, they had been careless with them during training after all. Many were left out in the training ground after they finished training, the weather having dulled them. Training together after the academy had become part of their daily routine, often it happened here in their own personal training ground. But for the more devastating and out of hand sessions they had to be in one of the publicly open grounds, which they always were when training in ninjutsu.

"You know the exam will be coming up soon, think you can handle it?" Naruto smirked teasingly.

"Oh I can handle alright, but I'm worried about you thou."

"Well since I defeat you every time we spar, I guess it will be alright."

Smirking at each other, they both continued talking about nonessential matters until it was time to go. It did not take them long to prepare and find themselves at the mansions entrance. Slamming the door shut they walked side by side down to street, eventually coming to a crossroads and taking a left. The Uchiha district was empty like always, thou people outside the clan had begun to move in to some of the empty residences.

The air was a bit chilly this early in the morning even thou the sun shine brightly in the sky, its radiating beams of light reflected off the blank surface of the wall beside them. The village wasn't quite awake yet, the only sound in the air was their own soles hitting the ground along with one or two squeaks from some nearby birds.

Naruto always liked the morning walk to the academy when most people were still sleeping; the peace and quiet suited him. Eventually they came to their desired destination, and the large triple linked building came into view. The entire academy was surrounded by a tall wall with a small collection of trees in the back.

Moving through the entrance and taking a turn to the left, they eventually came upon the red sign stating that this was the academy. Naruto entered through the door first and quickly came upon their classroom. The front of the room had a large blackboard hanging on the wall with a podium in front, situated far from the students' desks and put in a position where the teacher could see everyone at the same time. The students' desks were put in lines going upwards which had room for two students for every desk.

The room was empty, leaving Naruto with the option to sit were he wanted. Walking up the steps he stopped and seated himself to the far left half way up, with Sasuke slipping down on the seat next to him. They always sat together, both because they liked the company, but also to keep the fan girls away.

"You better prepare yourself." Naruto said lazily.

Sasuke raised a brow. "Why?"

"Heard your two favorite classmates where going to come early today."

'Hn' was all Naruto received as answer, the equally famous and annoying Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura would arrive soon. Both having a major crush on Sasuke, Naruto didn't mind, it was good teasing material after all and they were neither aggressive nor friendly towards him. Although they're screeching could be a bit too much some times.

The academy wasn't so bad when it was empty and peaceful, but it was a waste of their time. Both Naruto and Sasuke learned the academy jutsus long ago; they were only going through the motions but were not really there in mind and spirit. But soon they could leave this place and never return.

It did not take long before their peace and quiet was broken.

"I got here first Ino-pig!"

"You cheated, forehead!"

Naruto rolled his eyes and turned slightly to the other way, trying to block out their constant arguing. He wondered what would become of those two if they didn't grow up soon, eventually they would have to realize the world is a harsh place. Eventually, if they graduate, they would have to leave their sheltered home and see how ugly the world really is. How he felt sorry for those who got one of them on their team.

As time went by more and more students came and filled up the classroom, all seated behind desks and for every new arrival the sound level increased. Naruto wondered how they could have so much to talk about, especially when it was only about useless uninteresting matters. The girls usually talked about what to wear, if they look good and if Sasuke wants a date etc. The guys were more individualistic in Naruto's eyes; they had their own thing.

For example, the guy with the mutt who only talked about the mutt. The fat guy who only eat all the time, perhaps not a good thing but a thing nonetheless. Or the lazy guy who only ever talked if he absolutely had to. Then of course all the other classmates Naruto didn't know also had to spout out their interests for the world to know.

The sound of students talking, chairs scraping and voices echoing in the hallway assaulted him. He was brought out of his thoughts by his teacher, Umino Iruka, walking through the door and telling everyone to shut up. The man was a bit straight forward some times.

"Alright class, today we will go through the leaf concentration exercise for the last time along with a few other exercises. The exam will be next week so we will be going through and repeat what you should have learned." Iruka announced to the class and brought out a bowl of leafs.

"Line up everyone."

Naruto and Sasuke breathed out slowly and went to the open space in front of the room, taking a leaf from the bowl and began the exercise. Both of them placed the leaf on their forehead, and directing their chakra onto the leaf as a focal point. Glancing over to Sasuke, Naruto focused and witnessed how the chakra flowed through his brother's body and with it ending up in his forehead. With his eyes he could see the chakra in people's bodies, and every person had a different feel to their chakra.

Mirroring his brother, Naruto concentrated on controlling his chakra onto the leaf, blocking out all other thought as he did. This was actually two exercises in one, first to summon your chakra and point it onto the leaf, but also to better your mental focus by keeping their mind from being distracted.

"As you know, only those who have worked hard on their ability to concentrate can become strong shinobi." Iruka walked in front of everybody and back as he spoke. "This exercise is as old as Konoha itself, the emblem on our forehead protector is based from this."

It was hard to know how much time passed by, but Naruto guessed about 15 minutes before their teacher told them to stop and to walk outside to the courtyard. The entire area in front of the academy was open and often used for the physical activities. The sun shine brightly in the sky and the soft warm wind felt good in his face.

"You think it will be you against me again?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto nodded. "Probably, unless they want to give someone else a chance to show their progress. But I doubt it, not this close to the exam."

And as he thought, Iruka paired them together and they all began to spar. There was no aggression or intensity, no one wanted to get hurt this close to the exam. The soles of their feet slapped against the ground as they moved back and forth, taking turns to attack and defend. Even thou they lacked intensity; the warmth in the air caused them to sweat anyway. The spar continued for a while and when their teacher noticed some were slowing down, he called it quits.

The rest of the class was spent with various other small exercises before they could go home, normally they would spent several hours each day in class but the closer to the exam they got, the earlier the class ended. Leaving the students to work on whatever they needed to work on. Upon leaving the academy building the usual 'Oh Sasuke I can't live without you, will you date me' thing occurred. But as usual they got turned down.

All in all, it was a normal day for them.

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AU

I just recently began working on this story. Hope you like it.

Please let me know what you think.


	2. Chapter 2: Graduation

**Chapter 2**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

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Konoha, also known as the hidden leaf village located in the Land Of Fire was a peaceful place. The village was famous for its large surrounding forest, and the giant mountain adorned with the carved faces of the previous Hokage's. Currently it had four faces belonging to the first Kage's in Konoha's history. The first Hokage Senju Hashirama, the second Hokage Senju Tobirama, the third and current Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen and lastly the fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato. These men were all famous in their own right, but not as famous as the powerful clans of Konoha.

The Aburame clan was one of the four noble clans of Konoha, specialists in using insects as weapons, which is why they are experts in espionage. The Inuzuka clan with their powerful ninken companions makes excellent combination with the Aburame clan. The Akimichi clan also one of the four noble clans, they possess great physical strength are able to convert calories into chakra. That along with the Nara clan's specialty in shadow jutsu and the Yamanaka clan's specialty in mind jutsu makes them a formidable team.

But none of these clans are as famous as the three major clans, the Senju, the Hyuga and lastly the Uchiha. The first and the latter are most famous for founding Konoha, along with their special abilities were the Senju manipulated and created the forests surrounding the village, and the Uchiha for their great eye techniques. The Byakugan belonging to the Hyuga was almost equally famous for its ability to see almost 360 degrees and granting the user the ability to see through solid objects.

Belonging to such a famous clan and one with the kind of history Naruto's had along with the fact he had even rarer eyes, it was no wonder why people always began to whisper and point to each other when he walked by. And today was no different, it didn't bother him to much but sometimes he just wished he could be normal. But he remembered back to what his father Fugaku once said.

"_Some are born to be special, some have to rise above others whether they want to or not. And we of the Uchiha are destined for greatness, you'll see one day_." He had seen it alright, the greatness of the Uchiha being washed away by its greatest member, that is. But that was one of the reasons why he pushed himself so far, why he didn't just give up when things were hard. To finally one day reach the heights his father had talked about and complete his revenge on his brother.

Continuing down the street with his brother beside him, they were coming closer and closer to the academy and hopefully it was the last time they went there. Because today was the day of the long anticipated exam. Today was the first step in his plans, to graduate and then advance with his team. The sun was in the middle of the sky with few clouds around, the instructions from Iruka was to gather at the academy at noon.

Crowds thronged the main street in which they walked, laughing, scowling, and chatting. A child, a young girl, caught Naruto's eye when she squealed with delight and ran to the waiting arms of a dark-haired woman, presumable her mother. The girl must have felt his gaze. She looked at him from over her mother's shoulder, her small face pinched in a question. He stared at her as he walked and she looked away, burying her face in her mother's neck.

He didn't show any emotion at the act, but his unusual eyes had that effect sometimes. Ignoring the thing he continued down the street, feeling a sharp rock on his right sole through his sandal.

"You alright?" Sasuke wondered.

Naruto swallowed but had his gaze fixed forward. "Yes, I just want this thing over with."

"Me too, wonder who will be on my team."

"Wouldn't it be fun if you got Ino and Sakura? What a cute team you would make."

Sasuke scowled. "Very funny, asshole. Maybe you will have that lazy guy Shikamaru and the fat one Chouji. The only sound your team would make is the crunching of Chouji's constant eating."

They laughed together as they continued walking, there bickering had become part of their ritual. For the last part they said nothing, only the daily hum and buzz of the village filled the silent gulf between them. For once they weren't there first, some students they hadn't bothered to learn their names was seated on the first row. The fluctuation in their voice telling how nervous they were about the exam.

Wasting no further time, they seated themselves in their regular spot to the far left. Naruto closed his eyes and let his thoughts drift away, and was only awoken from his stupor by the voice of his teacher.

"Settle down everyone, settle down." Iruka waited for the noise to subside. "As you know, first there will be a written exam. You are under no circumstances allowed to talk to another student, if you want something raise your hand and I'll come over."

Iruka scanned the classroom, counting the number of students inside. "Since you are all here, we can start."

Walking up and down the corridors between the desks, he handed the exam and eventually came down to the front again. "Alright you can begin."

Naruto scanned the page up and down; there were fifteen questions in total varying between history and how to behave to certain situations. Picking up his pen he started with the first question, it did not take long before he was finished and leaned back in his seat. Taking a sneak at Sasuke, he was currently on the last question. Checking the time he realized he had more than half the time left and decided to go forward and hand in the test.

He was shortly followed by his brother and both went outside the classroom.

"What a joke." Sasuke exclaimed.

"Yes it was easy, to us. But remember not everyone has the means or the discipline that we have."

"Yeah but still, can't believe anyone will fail."

Naruto made a half-hearted shrug. "Who cares if the others fail, as long as we don't."

The rest of the time was spent in silence, Naruto reflecting on which jutsu they would have to perform, and Sasuke about the reason he haven't awakened his sharingan yet. To Sasuke it seemed odd that he hasn't yet, he too had emotional trauma after the massacre just like Naruto. But his eyes remained the same while his brother's transformed into the fabled Rinnegan no less. Sasuke tilted his head to the side and frowned, but tried to think of something less disappointing.

After everyone was finished with the exam they were called inside again, now for the second part of exam.

"Listen up everybody, when I call your name you leave the room and take the first door to your left. Inside there will be the second part of your examination." Iruka informed them.

One after the other went away and came back smiling, it would seem no one had performed badly yet. Eventually Naruto's name was called, going outside and to the left he put his hand on the door handle. Taking a long breath, he opened and walked inside. At the far end of the room he could see two chuunin instructors sitting behind a desk, one he recognized as Mizuki, the other was unkown to him.

"Alright Uchiha Naruto, perform the Bunshin no Jutsu(Clone Technique) for us." Mizuki instructed.

Lazily Naruto said, "Bunshin no Jutsu."

Without hand seals three perfect replicas of himself appeared out of nowhere. The unknown instructor scribbled something on his piece of paper then said. "Now the Henge no Jutsu (Transformation Technique)."

Twitching his head to the right, Naruto focused on the replicas and made them and himself change into his teacher Iruka. It was one of the harder E-rank techniques; it required constant emission of chakra while mentally maintaining the form.

Naruto heard more scribbling before Mizuki stood up and threw him a forehead protector. "Congratulations Naruto, you pass."

Naruto caught it with his right hand and simultaneously dispelled the clones, and putting it on his forehead as he walked out the door. He chuckled quietly to himself during too few steps between the two rooms before opening the door to the classroom. As the door opened he focused on Sasuke, seeing his slightly younger brother change his expression from indifferent into a smile. They didn't have the time to speak to each other as Sasuke's name was called by Iruka.

Walking past each other they high fived and then continued to their own destinations. Slumping down onto his seat, Naruto leaned back and closed his eyes, confident his brother would soon enter with a forehead protector of his own. His premonition came through as Sasuke came back exactly as he thought.

Sasuke seemed to be the last one as Mizuki and the other instructor opened the door and walked inside. All three instructors standing beside each other in front of the class, observing.

It was Iruka who broke the silence. "I congratulate you all on graduating, everyone who took the test passed. I'm proud of you." He changed his gaze, making eye contact with all students in the room as he spoke. "Now tomorrow at ten we will announce the team formations and your new jounin sensei. That's all for today."

Naruto reached up with his hand and felt the hard cold metal that now protected his forehead, outlining the Konoha symbol with his fingertips. Finally becoming an official ninja and going on missions excited him. But the opportunity to learn from a jounin sensei and achieving more power was even more exciting.

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Smoke rose and the smell of tobacco spread around the room as Sarutobi Hiruzen lit his pipe. The smoking of a pipe or a cigar differs from smoking a cigarette. The act of smoking a pipe or a cigar can be likened with enjoying a class of wine, first you sip to the cigar, and then let the smoke roll into your mouth in order to taste it, and Hiruzen did just that.

He had begun smoking after the second shinobi world war and had continued ever since. He did enjoy it of course, but it was just as much a habit. The old Hokage leaned back into his chair and observed the tiny casket in front of him which contained his tobacco. Age had created several cracks on the ones flat and shining box. Reminding of himself, he too felt the effects of age. The more and more growing grey hair and the many wrinkles was proof of that.

Blowing out a large puff of smoke, there was a knocking on his door. "Come in."

As the door opened he realized who it was, he had forgotten he was suppose to meet him. Although he could blame it on the man, they were supposed to meet two hours ago. The masked grey haired man stepped inside and bowed slightly.

"You wanted to see me, Hokage-sama."

That was Kakashi alright, constant late and always lazy.

"Yes Kakashi-kun have a seat." Waving with his hand, pointing over the chairs in front of him.

When the man was seated he continued. "So I've decided your team, it will consist of Uchiha Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura."

Kakashi's left brow raised. "Both Uchiha, is that wise?"

Hiruzen took a long sip on his pipe. "After the massacre, I felt it was best to keep them together. If you have any other suggestions I'm happy to hear them."

Kakashi thought about it, he knew he would get one of them due to his own eye. Them being Uchiha probably put a lot of pressure on the Hokage from the council to put them in his care, and there was no way the famous Ino-Shika-Cho would be split. The other team consisting of clan members was the espionage team, they to complement each other to well for it to change.

"No, I think it's for the best. I am the best suited after all to teach them."

"Yes you are, but don't forget you have a third member too, Kakashi."

Nodding, Kakashi realized he probably had to teach her the most. What he had heard of Haruno Sakura was from the Hokage, and he got the impression she didn't have many thoughts beside those of Sasuke. Probably the reason she became a ninja, he thought.

"Well if there is nothing else, I have some important business to take care of." He said as he stood up.

Hiruzen raised a brow. "Wouldn't have anything to do with that book of yours does it?"

The man just smiled and disappeared, utilizing the Shunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique).

Hiruzen turned his head and looked out the window at the setting sun and taking another puff from his pipe.

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His body was awake and alert the moment the alarm began to ring, purple eyes snapped to attention and regarded the annoying device. One quick slap later and the sound disappeared. Naruto shook his head, trying to shake out the last instance of sleep. Pulling himself up and putting his feet on the floor, the cold crept up his toes. Pulling on his regular clothes he made his way across the room, he prepared his weapons pouch and then exited the bedchamber. Continuing with his morning routine.

About an hour later, he and his brother pushed their way through the busy morning traffic of Konoha. For each step they took, the mystery of who was on their respective teams came closer. Eventually they arrived at the academy with some time to spare, finding the room almost full of newly graduated classmates who all were chatting. Their usual spot was opened like always; everyone was so used to see them there that no one occupied those seats anymore.

As they walked by the usual exclamation about how cute and wonderful Sasuke was entered into Naruto's ears. Even on the last day in the academy, everything seemed like always. Almost immediately after they sat down, Iruka walked through the door.

Standing before the class he began. "The life of a shinobi is a hard one, full of obstacles. To survive you need to hone your skills and trust your teammates. Now is there anything you would like to ask before I start with Team assignments?"

Receiving no response he continued. "Now, team one will consist of…"

Naruto tuned out his sensei, instead imagining how his new life would be now. Probably would have to do some team building exercises and minor missions, then moving on to more advanced tasks. It would be a relief to have a sensei who can teach him some real skills; the basic stuff in the academy wouldn't cut it if he wanted to achieve his goal. Besides, it was harder to learn a jutsu from his family scrolls than from an actual living person.

"Team seven," Iruka called. "Uchiha Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura, led by jounin Hatake Kakashi." Even lost in thought he managed to smirk at the last name, oh how funny it would be to have her all over his little brother. Said persons squeal at hearing the team also contributed to his good mood.

Iruka called a few more teams and ended at team ten, as Naruto thought the famous Ino-Shika-Cho was together and the espionage clans were also together. Strangely enough team nine was still in circulation, perhaps they were too weak to take the last chuunin exam, he thought.

"You are all now shinobi of Konoha, I'm very proud of you all. Your respective jounin sensei will come and collect you. I wish you good luck and may the Will of Fire burn brightly on you."

Iruka's eyes seemed to tear up when he took one last glance at everyone and then exited the room. Immediately afterwards everyone began talking, people ran over to each other and were genuinely happy. Naruto poked his little brother in his ribs and chuckled softly making Sasuke turn his head sharply and narrow his eyes. Sasuke knew his older brother wasn't chuckling about the scene before them or because they got on the same team. No he knew it was because of their third teammate, who currently was going wild a few seats above them.

As time went by sensei after sensei showed up, until they were left alone in the room. Naruto zoning out staring through the window, Sasuke finding something very interesting straight forward from the intense stare he had, and lastly Sakura who kept staring at Sasuke.

Naruto breathed out slow and loud, his temper was about to explode. Their sensei hasn't showed up yet and it's been two hours. Sure he had patience, but this was bloody ridiculous. Did the man die or something?

As luck would have it, his prayer was heard and a silver haired man peeked his head through the door. The man was wearing the standard green jounin vest along with iron plated gloves, and with his forehead protector angled downwards covering his left eye. On top of that he had a blue mask covering most of his face, leaving only the areas around his right eye and his right ear visible.

"Yo! Let's meet up on the roof." The man said before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

The three left in the room looked at each other and then began the walk up the stairs to the roof. Upon opening the door, Naruto was greeted by a blur sky with several clouds. Their sensei was leaning against the rail on the other side and seemed bored.

The man motioned with his hand for them to sit down. "Well, Let's begin with introductions. You know, your dreams for the future or what you like, stuff like that."

No one said a word; the only sound in the area was the wind blowing through the trees. Kakashi sighed and pointed towards the only female in the team. "You, begin."

Smiling she began. "I'm Hanuro Sakura, I like…"

Naruto tuned her out, he didn't care about her stupid likes or dislikes and he already knew her dream, which forced a smile to escape his lips. This in turn happened just as she began talking about her dream, something that did not go unnoticed by Sasuke.

"Next." Their sensei called out.

Looking at each other, Naruto began. "My name is Uchiha Naruto, I have lots of likes and even more dislikes. My only goal is to kill a certain someone."

The last sentence hung in the air, their sensei remained indifferent and aloof but Naruto spotted a small change in his expression. The man probably expected him to say that.

Their sensei nodded towards Sasuke. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke, I too have many likes and dislikes. And my goal is to resurrect our clan and to bring a certain someone to justice."

Observing them Kakashi thought, so one major avenger, one half avenger and one fan girl, lucky me.

"Well that's the introductions, now there's only the survival training left."

Naruto raised his brows. "Survival training?"

"Yes, you know being a ninja is hard. Therefore only nine of the twenty seven graduates will be allowed to continue as Genin." Smiling he continued. "That means there's a failure rate over sixty-six percent."

Without waiting for a response he continued. "Anyway, tomorrow you have to show your ability in the third training ground. Bring all your Shinobi tools and more importantly, don't eat breakfast."

Kakashi pulled out three papers and gave one each to them. "These have more details, don't be late tomorrow."

And with that he disappeared in a puff of smoke. Scanning the paper Naruto found nothing more of interest and crumbled it as he stood up. "You done, Sasuke?"

Nodding, Sasuke and Naruto began the walk home to the mansion while ignoring Sakura's outburst of wanting lunch. Both deciding to skip their usual training session in their private training ground.

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The two first chapters have been a bit slow, but next chapter will have some action.

Please let me know what you think.


	3. Chapter 3: Test

**Chapter 3**

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

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The next day.

Naruto was not having a good day, first he didn't get much sleep and now when he had finally moved himself to the training ground, their sensei was nowhere in sight. With nothing left to do, the entire team sat down and waited. After several hours of waiting at training ground three, Kakashi finally showed up with two bells dangling from his right hand.

"You're late!" Sakura said as she pointed angrily at their sensei.

They all stood up as Kakashi began to explain. "You have until noon to get one of these from me. Whoever doesn't get one fails and are sent back to the academy." Smiling he continued. "Oh and you better come at me with the intent to kill."

Both Naruto and Sasuke narrowed their eyes and prepared to start while Sakura looked nervously around. As Kakashi but down a timer on a nearby rock, the three students scattered into the forest. He then pulled out a book with a light green cover from one of his front pockets of his vest, and then sat down beside the timer to begin his reading.

Naruto moved closer to his brother and signaled to Sakura to move towards them, when they were all together he began.

"This is obviously not the real test."

"What do you mean?" Sakura wondered.

"We are fresh from the academy, he is a Jounin." Sasuke explained.

A few seconds went by before she realized the meaning. "So we shouldn't be able to get a bell, which means our best chance is to work together." Then it hit her. "But there are only two."

"Yes, and teams are always composed of four members. Which means the test is not to take the bells but how we try to take them."

Naruto closed his eyes as he nodded, trying to think up a strategy. "Okay, this is what we're going to do."

Kakashi was having a good day, first a long breakfast followed by reading his favorite book. And now he could continue reading in peace as his opponents decided to scatter into the forest. Turning a page, his eyes widened. Oh that's interesting, he thought as he giggled. As time went by he continued reading.

A few swishing sounds reach his ears, on instinct he dodged to the left. A second later several kunai occupied his previous spot. Several more came his way, dodging them easily to the left. He was genuinely surprised when Sasuke appeared further away and launched a volley of small fireballs, flying unpredictable through the air towards him.

Using his chakra, Sasuke focused the small balls of fire to fly randomly through the air. Spraying them all around in order to make it hard for his opponent to dodge sideways.

Kakashi grunted as he bowed slightly and jumped, letting the attack fly past him underneath. _A two stage attack, did not think they would do that._ As the wind blew in his face and making his silver hair bend backwards he heard.

Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)

Kakashi's eyes widened as the giant globe of fire came closer and closer from his right side. The air in the area began to increase in warmth, and he could feel the heat on his skin as the attack neared. In midair, there was no chance for him to dodge, leaving him with only one option.

Naruto finished explaining his idea and the others agreed to try it. Watching them both leave, he went to the left from his current position. Eventually coming around to his target's right side, hiding in the bushes he witnessed as Sakura began her attack. As expected the kunai flew past their opponent who dodged to his left two times in a row. _Now it's Sasuke's turn_.

Sasuke didn't fail to deliver, Naruto observed the globes of fire being sprayed across the area. Forcing their opponent up into the air, molding his chakra and going through the hand seals he began his attack. As the giant globe of fire swallowed their teacher, the entire area lit up in a storm of orange and yellow. Even far away he could feel the heat on his skin from the warm winds.

Naruto walked out of his hiding place and met up with the other two, watching the flames die down as he neared them. He was disappointed, he thought he saw a small puff of smoke as the attack hit and he was right. Lying in front of them was a scorched log, which turned to ash before their eyes.

In a nearby tree, Kakashi grinned. _Finally a team who realized the true meaning of the test_. The smell of scorched earth filled his nose, and he observed the damaged area in front of him. _To use elemental ninjutsu at this age is impressive._

Jumping down from the tree he landed with a loud thud on purpose, making his students aware of his presence.

Smiling he said. "You didn't get a bell, but you all pass. You know why?"

Sasuke took the initiative. "Because we figured out that taking the bells would be impossible, instead we figured you would evaluate how we tried to get them."

"Precisely, teamwork was the key and to see underneath the underneath." Smiling he continued. "Now, how did you guys learn elemental ninjutsu?"

"Family scrolls and from Jiraiya-sama." Naruto explained as he rubbed of some dirt from his face. "He used to check up on us from time to time, and sometimes taught us ninjutsu."

Kakashi's eyes widened. "And what did Jiraiya-sama teach you?"

"Mostly fire techniques and a few others." Naruto replied cryptically.

"And you?" Kakashi looked over to Sasuke and Sakura.

"I also learned fire techniques, but I was unable to learn any other jutsu." Sasuke's shoulders slumped.

"You mean to tell me that Naruto can use more than one element?"

"Yes, Jiraiya said something that because of my eyes I could learn jutsu from all the five elements." Naruto explained.

Kakashi stroked his chin. "Perhaps I should talk to Jiraiya-sama the next time he is in the village. Now what about you Sakura?"

Sakura swallowed hard and dropped her gaze. "I just know the academy jutsu."

Their sensei nodded. "Meet back here tomorrow at ten! We're going to start team training and missions."

Watching their sensei walk away, Sasuke spoke up. "Nice plan brother."

Naruto allowed a grin to form and nodded. It was pretty good after all.

"Hey Sasuke-kun! Now that we're in the same team, would you have lunch with me? You know to celebrate." Sakura casually asked her crush, as they were leaving the training ground.

Smirking, Naruto patted his brother on the shoulder and ran as fast as he could, leaving the two love birds to their own devices.

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_- Hokage's Office –_

Sarutobi Hiruzen put down his pipe on his desk and scanned the room, the jounin who had been assigned a team were currently assembled. They were all chatting and waiting for the last member, the door opened and Kakashi walked through.

"Good, now that you're all here we can begin."

One jounin instructor after the other began telling about their results, and apparently team one to six failed their given test.

"Team seven, pass." Kakashi said lazily, which surprised everyone in the room; it was the first time after all.

"Team eight, pass." The young beautiful Yuhi Kurenai informed them. She was considered to be genjutsu specialists even thou she didn't possess any doujutsu to give her a natural talent for the illusionary arts.

"Team ten, pass." Sarutobi Asuma said rather proudly, he was the grandson of the current Hokage.

"Excellent, well that will be all. Kakashi could you stay behind please."

Hiruzen waited until the room was empty beside himself and the silver haired jounin "So tell me Kakashi-kun. How did your team perform?"

Kakashi smiled, "Well both Uchiha show great promise, as it were Jiraiya had given them some training beforehand."

"Such as?"

"Well apparently Naruto can use any of the five elements, although I don't know which he has learned to manipulate as of yet besides fire."

Hiruzen nodded. "Yes Jiraiya told me about it, and the other two?"

"Uchiha Sasuke showed great use of fire manipulation like all Uchiha. Haruno Sakura hasn't learned anything else besides the academy techniques."

Hiruzen smiled and nodded once more. "Kakashi I order you to train them as seriously as you can, Konoha can't afford to lose any of them."

"And what of Sakura?"

"You will train her too of course; they are your team after all. But focus must lay on the other two."

Kakashi showed no emotion as he nodded. "Anything else?"

"No, you can go."

As he watched Kakashi leave, he regretted what just happened but it wouldn't change the truth. To lose either the Rinnegan or the Sharingan would deal a heavy blow to Konoha. Picking up his pipe and filling it with tobacco, he leaned back and began thinking about less important things.

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Three hundred and sixty seven. Three hundred and sixty eight. Three hundred and sixty nine. Naruto grinned as he pummeled the wooden training post with his clenched fist in a steady rhythm. The ground around him had become damp with sweat, splinters lay everywhere as he continued to pummel the post. He felt the strain on his muscles as his bandaged fists hit the post over and over, but he ignored the pain and fatigue that slowly but surely filled his body. His natural stamina allowed him to continue for long periods of time and he could feel his body strengthening for each blow.

Every time he felt pain struck his body he only had to think of Itachi and the pain would be consumed by hate. Hate gave him strength, even when there was no hope. Hate would set everything right; it was hate that kept him alive. Naruto discovered long ago that hate was the greatest source for improvement, that hate would be the path to power. And he would acquire power, no matter the cost.

He had discovered quickly that Sasuke neither had the resolve or the hate to do what was necessary, and since he was the stronger of the two it fell to him to set everything right. His feelings on the matter were conflicted, he wanted his brother to find happiness, but he also pitied him. Pity because of how little it seemed the massacre had affected him, how weak in mind his brother was.

So far his training had gone smoothly, he only ever did the more gruesome training when Sasuke wasn't around, which he right about now wasn't. Sasuke, it would seem, accepted Sakura's proposal for lunch. Naruto's skill in ninjutsu was great, he was already a master of the fire element, so he left that aside for now and focused more on strengthening his body. His skill in genjutsu was low; he could spot and deactivate genjutsu but couldn't perform them. But he wasn't worried, the true power of genjutsu lies in the clash of wills and he doubted there were many who could stand against him there.

Because his mother originated from the Uzumaki clan, he possessed great stamina and vitality along with incredible longevity. Combine that with the spiritual inheritance he received from his father, he had very good prerequisite to become a powerful shinobi. Not to mention his unusually large amount of exceptionally strong chakra.

He stopped his brutal demolishing of the post and breathed heavily. Staring up into the heavens, he saw as always the strange symbols in the sky. They completely surrounded the village covering both air and underground. He had never commented on it before to anyone as he seemed to be the only one who noticed them. This first happened when his Rinnegan eyes awakened, ever since then he had seen the world in different shades of grey, all other color except chakra had disappeared.

When his breathing was back to normal he moved on to ninjutsu practice, concentrating on a very important aspect of ninjutsu, namely hand seals. He closed his eyes in concentration and in blurring speed performed them. Speed was one of the most important factors in a fight between shinobi, speed of the body and speed of performing jutsu. In a fight it could make all the difference if you can perform your jutsu faster than your opponent. Itachi had been a prodigy for many reasons, but the speed of his hand seals was definitely one of them.

The sun had begun its descent when he finally stopped his training, watching the orange and yellow beams of light illuminate the village. He cleaned up the area before entering the mansion for some well deserved rest.

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AU

Please let me know what you think.


	4. Chapter 4: First Mission

**Chapter 4**

Wow this story has had so many hits but so few reviews

Anyway here is the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

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Training Ground 7.

Team 7 was currently together in the training ground per their sensei's instructions, waiting patiently for their training to begin. Anticipation and excitement filled the air, only problem was, they were alone. Once more their sensei had decided to "get lost on the road of life", they had thought about coming to their meetings two hours late, only problem was that Kakashi was very irregular about his comings. Every now and then he would show up at the given time, others he would be two or three hours late.

And today was one of those days the road of life got long.

"I hate our sensei!" Sakura yelled as she paced in short pans back and forth. "Does he do this to make us miserable?"

Naruto had to agree, did their sensei get some kind of sick pleasure knowing that they were spending useless time waiting for him while he read his porn? Does he enjoy knowing that they stood out in the blistering sun doing nothing while he relaxed in the shadows? Or perhaps he is just teaching them patience, that's also a possibility.

Eventually though their sensei showed up and began explaining today's agenda.

"Today we will start by doing some training." He told them.

The three students perked up at hearing that, especially Naruto and Sasuke.

"What are you going to teach us?" Sasuke leaned forward somewhat, anticipation clear on his face.

"This training will allow you to climb trees, isn't that fun." Kakashi chuckled at their reaction.

"What kind of training is that?" Sakura said as her left eye twitched. "We already can climb trees."

"Oh can you now." Kakashi walked towards one of the taller trees in the area, glancing slightly backwards and waiting for his team to follow. When they were closer he moved to the tree and put his right foot onto to the bark and began walking upwards, hearing the sharp intake of breath from his students as he continued up the tree.

Eventually he stopped, standing upside down on a branch. "This is how you're going to climb trees in the future."

Jumping down he began explaining the theory behind the exercise. "You have to focus on a fixed amount of chakra to the bottom of your feet, and climb without the use of your hands." Glancing over the three and making eye contact, he continued. "If your stream of chakra is too low, you'll fall down. If it's too strong, you'll be pushed away."

Naruto nodded in understanding and witnessed three kunai hit the ground in front of him.

"Use those to mark how high you can reach, and I'll be back in about," Kakashi stroked his chin. "Three to four hours, bye."

Glancing towards his teammates, Naruto walked forward and picked up a kunai and approached the same tree their sensei had climbed a minute ago. Putting his right sole on the bark, he began concentrating. His ripple eyes immediately noticed the chakra building up in his foot, and everything went fine until the bark of the tree began to break and splinters flew into the air. _Too much chakra, _he thought.

Witnessing Naruto in action made Sasuke and Sakura fly into motion and trying the same method. The three of them spent some time standing on one leg trying to find the right amount of chakra, and it was Sakura who advanced a few steps up the tree first, cutting a horizontal strike into the bark before falling down and landing with a satisfied smile.

As time went by they all made progress, coming further up the tree every time they tried. Their method changed as they continued; now picking up speed by sprinting towards the tree and then moving upwards. It quickly became a contest between them, one that Sakura won quite easily, making her sit by on the side relaxing while the other two continued.

Naruto picked up speed and continued up the tree, coming a few meters further than last time and surpassing Sasuke's mark. Landing back down on the ground he felt satisfied to be in the lead again, only to be surpassed once more a few moments later. Their rivalry continued until both reached the top, ending the competition in a draw.

Both breathed slightly heavier than usual as they approached their third teammate for some rest before Kakashi came back. Learning chakra control had been an interesting experience, and Naruto couldn't wait to try some of his jutsu now. He should be able to perform them with less chakra and more efficiently now, allowing him to perform more jutsu in a fight before he ran out of chakra.

"Yo!" Their sensei had finally decided to come back to the training field. "How did it go?" He said as he inspected the many slashes on the trees.

Without waiting for a response he continued. "Since you did so well, we'll go on a mission today too."

Receiving three grunts as reply, they all began the walk towards the Hokage Tower.

Naruto pulled out a weed and another before throwing them in a growing pile beside him. Their sensei and the Hokage had seen it fit for them to do a very important D-rank mission, namely cleaning up a garden from its tares. Naruto watched his teammates pull out more weed and throwing them in their own pile before bending down and pulling out one more. _I'm going to kill whoever decided to accept D-rank missions from the very beginning._ He promised himself as he pulled out yet again another weed.

Naruto had been very excited when he first could begin accept missions, but soon realized how wrong he was. These D-rank missions were more like chores civilians couldn't stomach themselves to do, but of course according to Kakashi they were important "Team building" missions. He pulled out the last weed and sighed in satisfaction, it was finally over.

"Good job team." Kakashi praised as he sat a meters away in the shadows reading his book. "Let's return to the Hokage Tower and report the success of our mission."

"Oh I'm sure he will be proud over our great accomplishment." Sasuke said with underlying sarcasm.

Naruto nodded as he and the rest of the team followed Kakashi back to the Hokage Tower.

"Kakashi, tell me how this mission helped our teamwork. I can understand that you want us to do teamwork exercises, but these chores have nothing to do with teamwork." Naruto wondered as they neared the Hokage Tower.

"I thought it was obvious." Kakashi flipped a page in his book. "Easy money."

Naruto's eye twitched but he remained silent as they walked through the entrance to the Tower.

Opening the door Kakashi entered first. "Team 7 reporting in."

Looking up from a pile of papers the Hokage smiled and leaned back into his chair. "You were successful I hope?"

"Oh yes, how could anyone fail such an important task." Sasuke replied sarcastically.

Kakashi remained silent but pulled out the mission scroll and handed it to the Hokage. Opening the scroll and inspecting it, Hiruzen smiled. "Everything seems in order, here is your pay."

Holding one of the four envelopes in his hand, Naruto opened it and counted the money. 5000 ryo split in four was not much money, but it wasn't like he needed it. The Uchiha clan was very rich after all.

"You're dismissed then." The Hokage nodded to them and then continued going through his papers. The four left the Hokage Tower and gathered outside the building.

"Excellent work team." Kakashi smiled. "Now tomorrow we'll meet here to take on more missions."

Saying their goodbyes, Kakashi left, leaving the trio alone. With him gone Sakura turned to Sasuke.

"Sasuke-kun, how about a date?"

"No." Sasuke replied as he and Naruto began walking home.

Slumped down with her shoulders, Sakura began walking off in the other direction.

After walking for a few minutes Naruto stopped. "I'll see you at home brother. I want to do some shopping." He wasn't particularly looking for something, but he enjoyed browsing through some stores inventory.

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Naruto sighed as he walked out of one of his regular stores, once more disappointed of not finding something interesting to buy. He had already seen everything they had, or if there was something new it wasn't of interest to him. But that didn't stop him from buying some kunai and shuriken to stock up their stash at home.

Looking around he scanned the signs hanging over the various stores down the street. Further down the road there was one he hasn't seen before, it was slightly larger than the rest and clearly said 'Weapon shop' and nothing else. He decided to give the place a try, reaching the door he glanced inside through the front window. The place was clean and filled with various materials.

Finally inside the sight of weapons upon weapons entered his field of vision. _At least it was a fitting name._ The shop had racks along its walls filled with larger weapons and smaller weapons along the racks in the middle of the store. It wasn't overly packed and had good space in the corridors for the customers to move around. Moving along the outer window and down the right wall, he observed several different kunai, starting with Konoha's standard kunai and ending with one that curved inwards on one side. _A good weapon for stabbing and thrusting._

But these weapons wasn't interesting enough for him to buy and learn them, he continued and went along one of the racks occupying a line in the middle of the store, nodding to the owner at the desk as he turned around the corner. Here was several blank scrolls of different sizes and colors, but that wasn't what could his eye. Further down a young girl stood inspecting one of the larger scrolls. The girl had long brown hair tied in Chinese-style buns located on either side of her head, with a forehead protector worn around her head underneath her fringe. The pink sleeveless blouse she wore stood out in the otherwise less colorful store.

He had seen her before in a few of the other stores, all he knew about her was that she had been a ninja before himself and that she obviously had a interest in weapons perhaps even greater than his own. While inspecting her observation of the scroll, she seemed disappointed and left the store. Walking over and picking up the scroll he inspected it quickly, it was just a large blank scroll and obviously it wasn't big enough for what she wanted to seal into it. Putting it back down Naruto instead collected two scrolls small enough to fit into the frontal pockets of Konoha's standard vests.

Eventually he ended up with the small scrolls and a hidden kunai mechanism that allows the user to instantly extend and retract kunai from their sleeve. The old man behind the counter was quite happy to have a customer, opening a new weapons shop in a Hidden Village wasn't as easy as one might think. Leaving the store Naruto decided to experiment with his new items when he got back home to the training ground.

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One week later.

Konoha forest.

"This is Ripple, I'm in position."

"Blossom, I'm ready."

"This is Raven; I see the target and it has a pink ribbon on the right ear."

"This is Scarecrow, capture it."

Naruto jumped out from his hiding place and advanced towards the target, the small sound he made was enough for the target to sprint in the other direction screeching and hissing as it ran. Sakura jumped out to intercept it, but a quick turn to the left saved it from capture, seeing victory close the cat got a surprise as he got caught in a trap. Sasuke's ninja wire worked like a charm.

"This is Raven, we have the target"

"Scarecrow, good work everyone."

Ten minutes later three bored genin and one equally bored sensei were standing in the Hokage Tower.

"Mission successful Hokage-Sama." Kakashi announced as he shook the cage holding the cat slightly.

A fat woman took the cage and brought out the terrified cat, snuggling it hard, perhaps too hard from its pained expression. Saying her thanks she quickly left the room.

"Good work Team 7, how about a new mission?" Scribbling through some papers he continued. "Some fences need painting, a few dogs need walking or more weed?"

Whispering to each other and nodding Naruto began. "Well, the team thinks we deserve a C-rank mission." He observed both the Hokage and their sensei for a reaction. "We have already done many D-rank and think we can handle something more difficult."

Sarutobi put the papers down on the desk before looking at Kakashi. "Do you believe they are ready Kakashi?"

Kakashi raised his head slightly to look over his book. "I believe their ready, what are the mission specifics?"

Ruffling through more papers the Hokage eventually found it. "It's an escort and protection mission. We have a client heading back to the Land of Waves."

Kakashi stroked his chin and glanced back down onto his book. "Okay we take it." Flipping a page as he spoke.

_Finally._ Naruto thought as he observed his smiling teammates and the door opening to reveal an older man with instances of gray hair, rectangular spectacles on his eyes and a pot belly. Along with the straw hat, the oozing smell of alcohol was what stood out the most about the man. From the look of him, it was no wonder he needed an escort to make it back to Wave country safely.

Naruto tuned out the older man as he began criticizing the team; instead his thoughts lay on the mission at hand. He had only been outside the village once and that was quite briefly and not very far. Anticipation filled him and he was told by their sensei to meet him early tomorrow at the village gates, with all the necessary equipment. Both Naruto and Sasuke left quickly afterwards, trying to escape the odor of alcohol that filled their sense of smell.

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The dreaded Wave mission comes next. Read and Review.


	5. Chapter 5: Wave Country

**Chapter 5**

**ero-sennin56: **Not for a while, Naruto would simply be too overpowered. But he will get it eventually.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

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The Next Morning.

It was early in the morning with the sun beginning to rise, covering the village in dim light. The time early enough for only a couple of people to be awake, most still sleeping comfortably in their beds. But not in the Uchiha Mansion, where it's two members were in the full motion of packing their necessary equipment for the upcoming journey. Both Naruto and Sasuke stood in the living room packing their own packs, scanning the material in front of him; Naruto might have overestimated the level of difficulty for this mission. Scrolls, kunai, ninja wire, and other ninja equipment were in his line of sight. He didn't want anything to go wrong on his first C-rank mission after all, even if the client was a drunken prick. C-rank missions usually consisted of bodyguard duty or hunting wild animals but one never knows what could happen.

Finding space for all his equipment in the bag was a tad difficult in the end, but everything fit through. Satisfied he had everything he needed; Naruto looked over at his brother who was in the process of filling his own bag. The pack wasn't as full as his own, but he knew his brother wouldn't leave out anything necessary for the task ahead of them.

Finishing with their packing and taking a fast breakfast, both Uchiha began the walk to the Village Entrance. First going through the barren and lifeless Uchiha District and then onward through the village. The air was a bit cold to the touch and the wind was calm as they walked down the street, eventually coming upon the front gate where their client Tazuna was already waiting.

Naruto nodded to the older man who for the first time since they met was sober, receiving a nod back they spent the next few minutes in silence. It did not take long before the rest of the team arrived, surprising both Uchiha as their sensei wasn't late.

"Shall we get going then?" Kakashi asked as Sasuke turned around and stared out through the gate. "Something wrong, Sasuke?"

"This is my first time outside the village, anyway let's get going."

The team began their long journey towards the Land Of Waves with Naruto in front and the other four beside each other a few meters back. The three younger members spent much time inspecting the environment in silence, especially Sasuke and Sakura. To Naruto it was nothing special, he had seen it all once before. Besides, there wasn't much else to see than trees upon trees.

But things soon turned to normal as Sakura began her frantic mission to get a date with his younger brother, although Sasuke didn't particularly like her he didn't dislike her either. Kakashi as usual was reading his born with a giggle or two and Tazuna seemed a bit worried. About them not being able to protect him or because of something else, Naruto couldn't tell which.

As Kakashi was in the process of explaining to Sakura about Wave country not having a ninja Village of their own. Naruto spotted movement further up ahead to his right. Focusing his field of vision to that location, he saw nothing but he was sure he had. Glancing back to Kakashi, who shrugged, Naruto continued walking. It would seem their sensei also had spotted something up ahead, he continued walking, as he neared the spot he prepared himself should anything occur.

Moving past the location, he breathed out a sigh of relief when nothing happened. Perhaps his senses played tricks on him.

"Kakashi-Sensei!"

Naruto spun around at the scream and witnessed two shinobi clad in breathing apparatus, tattered black cloaks and both wearing gauntlets whit a chain going through them, advance from the spot he just passed. The two unknown enemies were going straight for Tazuna, trying to catch the bridge builder in the chain. Twisting his wrist, the new device launched a kunai connected to ninja wire straight into his outstretched hand. Throwing it just above the chain, he pulled his arm downwards and then jumped backwards.

The kunai spun several circles around the chain and the two attackers came to a sudden halt. Wasting no time, Sasuke jumped between them and landed two solid kicks to their faces.

The power of the kick forced the assailants to release the chain from their gauntlets. One of the ninja charged towards Naruto, attempting to shred him to pieces with the claw adorned gauntlet on his right hand. As the ninja rushed in and made a thrusting motion, Naruto ducked and went through the necessary hand seals, faster than the enemy could follow, and touched the warm flicker of light inside his body. Manipulating his greatest source of power to flow towards his lips before saying softly.

"Suiton: Mizurappa" (Water Release: Violent Water Wave)

Water flew from his lips, creating a wave of gushing water that swept away the enemy. The force of the wave brought his enemy into a nearby tree were he slumped down to the ground unconscious.

Facing the now unconscious enemy, he glanced towards the side and witnessed his younger brother along with his Sensei taking out the last attacker by coordinating a two step attack. With the two attackers unconscious he relaxed his stance and walked over to his team.

"Good work you three." Kakashi said as he tied up the enemy, then continuing to do the same to the one lying at the tree.

Naruto walked over to the now tied up ninja and observed them just as one of them woke up. The man groaned and blinked fast as he looked around, from the worried look the man had, Naruto guessed he didn't quite like his current predicament.

"These are Chuunin from the Hidden Mist, although their missing-nin now." Pulling out a small book and flipping a few pages he continued. "And I think their names are…ah here it is, Gozu and Meizu."

Meizu pulled on his bindings. "How could a bunch of Genins defeat us?"

"We were simply stronger." Sasuke stated.

Naruto raised a brow and put his right hand on his brother's left shoulder. "Overconfidence is the most dangerous form of carelessness, remember that brother."

Kakashi smiled at his student's insight, before turning to Tazuna. "They were aiming for you, not us." He narrowed his eyes. "You asked Konoha for standard protection from animals and bandits. But judging from how worried you've been since we began the trip, you knew ninja were after you."

"Wa..wait a minute now I…."

"You lied to us Tazuna, this isn't in the boundaries of the mission we were given."

Tazuna bowed his head down and sincerely looked guilty.

Naruto took a step forward. "We should continue anyway, it would not good if we backed down now. Besides, I'm sure Tazuna here can pay us the right amount later on when the bridge is finished."

"I agree, we should continue." Sasuke agreed.

Sakura wanted to return back to the village, she simply wasn't ready to face such strong opponents. But with her two teammates roaring to continue, she forced down her feelings of uncertainty and agreed to continue.

"Tazuna-san, before we continue there's something I need to ask you." Kakashi pulled out his book and opened it. "I need to know the identity of the ones who are after you and the reason why." Flipping a page he continued. "Or we can call off this mission and return to Konoha."

"Of course, I'll tell you everything you want to know." Tazuna breathed in deeply. "A man named Gato is after my life."

Kakashi's eyes widened. "Gato? The man who supposedly is the richest man in the world."

"Yes, he is the president of a marine transportation company in the outside…But underground, he hire mercenaries and ninjas to smuggle illegal materials." Tazuna's gaze lowered to the ground. "He also takeover other companies, and a year ago he set his sight on Wave country."

"He entered this country using his wealth and violence as a shield, and quickly took over the island's sea transportation." Tazuna finished and let the information sink in.

Naruto nodded. "A good move, at least from his point of view."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"Wave country consists of many islands, by controlling the sea he effectively controls everything. That means wealth; politics and all the people living here must follow his rule." Naruto informed, making Sakura nod in understanding.

"Yes, what your teammate say is true." Tazuna's eyes filled with determination. "And that is why the bridge I'm building is so important. It is the only thing Gato I afraid of and it will allow us to transport goods to the main land as we please."

"And that is why Gato see you as an obstacle." Kakashi stated, still reading his porn at the same time. "Well let's get going then."

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Deep within a large forest, there was a huge fortified structure being held up between two tall trees. The entire structure was made out of wood and was an impressive piece of craftsmanship. Inside three individuals were having an important meeting.

A tall man with bandages covering half his face lounged in a large thrown like chair located further inside, beside him sat a slightly smaller man with red face paint on his face and chin. To his left was one of his subordinates, awaiting his instruction. In front of him was a rather short fat man in a business suit, with frazzled gray hair and sunglasses on his face, even thou the room had very little light.

"You failed!" The short suited man shouted. "I paid a lot of money to hire your group! I thought you were supposed to be skilled ninja assassins! If this is all you're capable of-"

"Quit your whining…" the tall man growled as he hefted a massive broadsword up with one hand, even though it was nearly as tall as he was. Bringing it around he pointed it at the now pale businessman, "Next time I'll be going to finish them myself, with this sword."

"A-are you sure about that?" asked the now nervous man. "It seems that Tazuna has a high level ninja guarding him, and now that the Demon brothers have failed, they'll be on guard for another attack."

"Just who do you think you're dealing with?" The man growled, not lowering his sword as he glared at the small fat man. "I am Momochi Zabuza, the Demon of the Hidden Mist."

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Several hours later, Tazuna with his escort made it to the coast and was currently waiting for a boat to arrive. The only way to Wave country was by sea, and their transport was late. The wait was spent mainly in silence and eventually the boat arrived, it was a simple boat with a motor engine and oars to bring it forward. Naruto positioned himself in front, Sakura and Sasuke sat behind him, followed by Kakashi and their client. The small engine in the back was working at full capacity, and the speed was impressive for such a small engine. Eventually the boatman changed to the oars instead, just as a thick mist rolled over them.

"The fog is so thick; I can't see anything besides water." Sakura said as she looked all around the boat.

Naruto tried to calm her. "Don't worry Sakura, it's an ordinary mist."

"How do you know?"

"Because my field of vision isn't blocked, meaning there is no chakra in the mist."

"So what do you see up ahead brother?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto glanced backwards. "A bridge is coming up to the right." Those words made everyone turn to the right, trying to see if he was right.

"Yes, you'll be able to see the bridge any moment now." The boat man announced. "And soon afterwards you'll set foot in Wave country."

Not many seconds went by before a giant unfinished bridge appeared out of the mist; its great shadow loomed over them as they passed it. They continued for a little while in silence before passing through a large archway, and then going into a small inlet lake. Naruto looked around; a few sparse trees were located around the water and several buildings along the bank. As the boat came closer he could see the buildings in better detail, they were all neglected and shabby, and there was several marks indicating incidents of violence.

Reaching the buildings and docking, Tazuna said his goodbyes to the boatman and they went off. Moving through the area, dust and carbonize filled their noses. Naruto did his best to avoid the refuse and to keep his feet away from the really muddy patches, but it was a futile attempt. Eventually they left the buildings and the shore behind them and continued their journey mostly in silence. Kakashi had stashed away his book and took the rear position, Sakura and Sasuke was located besides Tazuna in the middle and Naruto took point.

Even further in the area was still covered slightly with fog, which brought on the silence. Naruto scanned the surrounding tree lines as they continued, searching for any kind of movement or sound. He was sure Gato would try to kill the bridge builder again, and he would be ready when that happened. In the right corner of his field of vision, a bush rustled. He twitched his wrist and sent a kunai into the bush, startling his teammates.

"What are you doing Naruto!" Sakura hissed as a small white rabbit jumped out of the bush and ran away. "Look what you did to the poor thing."

Gripping the ninja wire and pulling, the kunai flew back into his right hand and then into its hiding place. As Sakura was berating Naruto for the ordeal, Kakashi observed the rabbit in more detail. _This time of the year a rabbit should be brown not white, it must have been raised in doors._

He scanned the nearby surrounding, but found only fog and trees until he heard a whooshing sound.

"Get down everyone!" He shouted as he ducked to the ground, feeling the slightly moist ground on his palms.

Sasuke and Sakura took hold of Tazuna and pulled him down with them, barely avoiding the whooshing object as it passed just over them. Naruto just managed to hit the ground when it flew past him and planted itself deep into a large tree, a second later a tall man appeared standing on top of the giant sword. Naruto observed the man; he was shirtless, with two armbands and pants. He had bandages covering his face and spike black hair. The hair was hold up by a forehead protector with the symbol of Kirigakure, the symbol had a large horizontal scratch mark going over it.

Kakashi stood up and took a few steps forward finally ending up in front of his team. "Oh my, you are Momoshi Zabuza, a missing-nin from the Hidden Village of Mist."

"If it isn't Hatake Kakashi, the copy ninja." Zabuza's deep voice rang over the area. "Said to have copied over a thousand jutsu, at least according to my bingo book."

_I never thought our sensei was that famous_. Sakura thought.

"Then I guess I should introduce myself too." A man standing behind them said.

Turning around, Naruto saw a tall man with long brown hair and with red face paint standing in the middle of the road. The man wore standard shinobi clothing and had a headgear with a large umbrella hanging down his back.

"I am Shura, pleased to meet you." The man said with an evil smile.

_This is not good; I won't be able to protect them from both sides_. Kakashi thought.

"Defensive formation you three, I have to deal with Zabuza." Kakashi reached up to his headband with his left hand. "You three have to hold the other one off until I'm done here. I have faith in you."

The three Genin formed a formation in front of Tazuna, Naruto took the point and stood straight in front of the man now known as Shura.

Zabuza smiled as he kicked off the tree and landed on the nearby lake. "Shura is going to kill those kids and I'm going to kill you! Kirigakure No Jutsu (Hidden Mist Jutsu)."

A thick mist spread closer to the shore, while Kakashi pulled up his headband revealing a Sharingan eye. The mist was blanketing the area and made it hard for him to see even with the Sharingan.

"Ah the Sharingan," Zabuza's voice came from the mist; his body could barely be seen now. "It's an honor to be facing it, and even more honor in defeating it."

Both Naruto and Sasuke widened their gaze, both thinking the same thing. _How could their sensei have the Sharingan? Only members of our clan can have it._ The sound of feet hitting water reached their ears; Kakashi had jumped deeper into the mist. _His trying to separate Zabuza from us_, Naruto thought.

Shura reach up and pulled forward his umbrella and expanded it. "Don't worry about your sensei, little kids. Worry about me!" He said as he spun the umbrella which launched several senbon towards the trio, following up the motion by twisting it the other way which launched several more.

The three Genin was forced to block the senbon with their kunai, if even one slipped by, Tazuna could be killed. Their enemy continued with his sequence for a little while before stopping.

Sasuke and Sakura were having trouble blocking, not from lack of skill, but by the intense killing intent from their enemy's. Naruto felt the increase of dread brought from the battle but shrugged it off, his previous experiences had been much harder than this. "I need you to stay and guard our client, Sakura, while Sasuke and I keep him occupied." Naruto said as he blocked the last senbon.

"What should we do brother?" Sasuke asked as he took a step forward, making him stand beside Naruto. The sound of metal clashing and many grunts came behind them, but was slowly getting weaker.

Naruto lowered his voice to a whisper. "Nothing for now, just watch and observe." Forming the tiger seal he said. "Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu. (Water Clone Technique)

From the ground two puddles expanded and formed into two identical versions of Naruto, both standing in a fighting stance.

"Eight points…" Shura announced, causing the trio and Tazuna to be on guard. "The liver, lungs, spine, clavicle vein, jugular artery, brain, kidney and the heart. Which should I kill you with?"

Naruto and Sasuke stayed put and observed as the two clones began to advance, both sprinting wide and close to the tree lines. Clone One, who was on the right rushed closed to Shura, throwing a kunai as it got closer. Clone Two, advanced to the left ready to close the distance when the opening formed.

Shura glanced towards the clones and began to anticipate their movements; a kunai from the left was approaching fast as both clones rushed close from both sides. Left with no option to dodge, he used his right hand to block the attack from Clone Two; the sound of metal hitting metal rang in his ears. Simultaneously blocking the incoming kunai from his left with the umbrella and pulling a switch on its handle. From its tip, bright orange and red erupted; engulfing Clone One in intense flames and making it burn into oblivion. Shura took a fast step backwards and made a wide horizontal motion with his left hand causing the hot flames to engulf Clone Two.

"A fire element user." Naruto stated. "The lack of a container on him suggests he push his chakra into the shaft, effectively reducing the need for hand seals."

"Yes, and it seems to be light enough for him to use it without much strain." Sasuke agreed, the brother's began do formulate a plan.

Shura was still standing in the same spot. "Strategize all you want children, it won't make a difference."

Nodding to each other, the brother's began their attack. Naruto sprung into action and advanced forward through the middle. He dodged the incoming fire to the left, feeling its heat on his skin as he did. Dodging ones more to the left, and just avoiding the beam of fire.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu" (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique) Came from the other side, Sasuke had positioned himself on the opposite side and launched a large fireball towards Shura, aiming the great ball of fire slightly behind his target.

Not to leave his defense down, Shura had to dodge straight towards Naruto; he flipped the switch on the shaft as he did.

As the beam approached Naruto formed the last seal, "Suiton: Mizurappa" (Water Release: Violent Water Wave). Pushing his chakra to his mouth, a wave of water launched itself and clashed with the beam of fire. Intense white smoke filled their field of vision as the two jutsu battled each other, both users pushing in more and more chakra into their jutsu. Naruto was beginning to feel the strain, normally a water technique should beat a fire technique of the same level, but this was the strongest water technique he knew and it took all of his concentration and power to keep the flames from advancing.

Thankfully for him, Sasuke followed up his attack with several smaller fireballs, which all curved in the air as they approached their target. One just passed by their opponents head, and a few others came close, until one hit the umbrella on its side. Shura dropped the tool and felt his hand burn before he was swept up by the wave of water.

Naruto released his jutsu, bended forward slightly and breathed hard, he was pleased that their plan had worked. But it was close, that fire beam was very strong. Glancing to the side, he nodded to his brother who smiled on the other side. Then turned his gaze towards the body lying on the ground some distance in front of him, it was not moving from what he could see.

Sasuke and Naruto walked slowly beside each other towards the body, Naruto breathing harder than his brother. It seemed as everything was over, he sighed in relief as Sasuke bent forward to roll over the body. Before he could react, Shura stabbed Sasuke in the stomach and threw him to the side.

"Hahaha did you think it was that easy?" Shura said as he pulled himself up on very shaky legs and walked forward very slowly.

Naruto slumped down to the ground on his knees and stared at his brother's unmoving body, Naruto's whole body was shaking and his lips were trembling, his breathing very short and fast.

Shura finally reached the kneeling Genin, and raised his hand which now held a kunai.

"Did he mean something to you, child?" Smiling he continued. "Then meet him in the afterlife!"

Naruto didn't have a single thought in his mind; the only thing that reached his understanding was his echoing heartbeat. It felt as if it was about to break out from his ribcage. Just as the feeling reached its breaking point he let out a strong scream and everything turned black.

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Sakura stood guard in front of Tazuna and observed the attack, charging straight in as Naruto did was one of the most reckless things she had seen him do. She sighed in relief as he dodged to the left and caught their attacker's attention. Glancing to Tazuna, she realized he probably was as scared as she was. But it soon left her mind as she observed her teammates perform their plan, leaving Sasuke with a good opportunity to the right.

They had won, their enemy lay still on the ground and both Naruto and Sasuke were alright. Sakura released the stiff posture she didn't even realize she had and her body slumped slightly. A small smile formed as she watched her teammates approach the defeated enemy.

"NOOO!" She yelled as their opponent stabbed Sasuke and threw him to the side, she rushed over towards Sasuke completely forgetting to protect Tazuna. As she ran a heavy feeling of dread found itself to her stomach and tears flew from her cheeks. Just as she neared her fallen teammate, she heard a scream from Naruto and then was pushed to the side by a powerful shockwave. Dust and earth flew in all directions as she lay helpless on the ground; the force was too strong for her to stand up.

When the powerful force turned down, she tried to understand what happened but immediately brought her attention to Sasuke. Rushing over and pulling him to the side, she heard him groan as she checked his pulse.

"Oh thank god!" She burst out in tears ones more. The wound wasn't too deep but he had lost some blood. After checking on the wound, she turned her gaze towards Naruto. He lied straight on the ground on this stomach, his back rising in a steady interval. The earth around him had planned out and was level. Finally further ahead she saw Shura, he was sitting on the ground with his shoulders and his head resting against a tree with his eyes open. But there was no life to be found in them.

Pulling out a medic kit she began to bandage Sasuke's wound.

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Naruto awoke and found himself lying on the ground, he blinked several times to give his sight focus. The area around him had completely changed and there was much dust in the air. Pulling himself up on to his feet he glanced over to his dead brother, only to find Sakura there bandaging his groaning brother. Smiling he ran as fast as he could to them, which wasn't very fast.

"Are you alright Sasuke?"

Sasuke kept on groaning as Sakura finished bandaging him. "I'll live but not for much longer if Sakura don't easy up."

"Hey this needs to be done properly." Sakura scolded.

Smiling at the two, Naruto asked. "What happened here? I can't seem to remember."

Both Naruto and Sasuke looked to Sakura. "I don't really know, I was rushing to Sasuke when a shockwave pushed me to the side. After that you were on the ground and Shura was dead."

Naruto pushed his brows together. _Did I do all that damage when I lost consciousness? The shockwave must have killed Shura then but left me unharmed._

"What about Kakashi?" Naruto wondered.

"What about me?" Kakashi answered as he walked slowly towards them with Tazuna on his side, his forehead protector was now covering his left eye.

"Kakashi-sensei your alive!" Sakura yelled and smiled as she stood up, the marks of her tears was barely visible on her cheeks.

"Yes and so are you." Turning his head to the left, he saw the slumped body of Shura. "I'm very proud of you team, you defeated a strong opponent without help."

The three Genin smiled proudly at the praise but it disappeared as their sensei slumped to the ground, his one visible eye closed.

Naruto bowed down and placed a hand on his neck. "He's alive but unconscious, probably chakra exhaustion." Naruto sighed. "Sakura you have to support Sasuke while I carry Kakashi-sensei."

"I'll help you." Tazuna insisted.

"Good, we need to get to your home now. Can you lead us there?"

"Yes," Tazuna answered as he and Naruto pulled Kakashi up. "It's this way."

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AU

Plenty of action in this chapter but no Haku. Don't worry though; I have plans for Haku later on. And if you're wondering, Haku is female in this story. There is simply no way someone can have such a girly face and figure, and be male.


	6. Chapter 6: A New Path

**Chapter 6**

I would like to thank my reviewers, those who added my story to their alerts and favorites, and to all anonymous readers.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

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The journey to Tazuna's hometown went by very slowly but eventually the town appeared before their eyes. While carrying his Sensei, Naruto took in the town. The houses here was in better condition than those he had seen when first arriving in the Land of Waves, the town mostly consisted of two sized houses with a river going through the middle of the town. Tazuna's instructions brought them through the town towards the dock, and the closer they got the more depressing the town became. They did not pass by many people but the few they did pass were all either pacing about not doing anything in particular, or working on something with an anguished expression.

Eventually they came upon Tazuna's house; it too was a two story house that was located on a dock overlooking the ocean. It was better looked after than the others, Tazuna was a master carpenter after all. The upper level had two balconies and the lower level had several beams to support the roof that extended a bit longer then the building itself. As the group arrived at the door Tazuna opened it, he and Naruto had to walk in sideways in order to carry in Kakashi followed shortly after by Sakura supporting Sasuke.

"Tsunami I'm back!" Tazuna's voice rang in the lightly furniture room.

Naruto heard a rumble to his right and shortly after a beautiful woman in her late twenties exited through the brown wooden door. The woman known as Tsunami had dark blue shoulder length hair and brown eyes, she wore a pink sweater along with a blue skirt.

"Dad!" Tsunami burst out in relief as she ran over to him and kissed him on the cheek. "I'm so glad you're alright."

"It's all thanks to these fine ninja here." Tazuna explained with a large smile.

"Is there somewhere we can lay down our Sensei?" Naruto inquired.

Tsunami looked over the unconscious silver haired man and put a hand on his forehead. "Is he alright?"

"He's fine, but he needs rest."

Tsunami nodded a bit uncertain. "Follow me upstairs and we'll find him a spare bed."

Naruto nodded and they all followed the beautiful woman up the stairs and down the hall to a room on the right. The room was as plain as they others and had a view of the ocean. Tsunami went to the closet on the opposite side and then rolled out two beds in the middle of the room. Tazuna and Naruto put down Kakashi gently and pulled the sheet over him. Sasuke walked in the room by himself slowly and laid down on the other. Now when Tazuna's hands were free, Tsunami embraced him in a hug.

"Why don't you all just relax and I'll get you something to eat." Tsunami said as she released her father from the hug and went out the door closely followed by Tazuna.

Both Naruto and Sakura sat down beside the beds, Sakura sat down cross-legged beside Sasuke's bed and looked concerned, even though Naruto spotted several signs of fatigue she refused to relax. A few minutes of silence went by before Naruto broke it.

"Guys we have a problem."

"Of course we do!" Sakura waved her hands. "Our Sensei is unconscious and Sasuke is injured."

Naruto nodded. "Yes that's true, but there is something else."

"Like what?"

"We still don't know what happened to Zabuza."

Sakura's eyes widened in understanding and she brought her hands down.

"And we won't until Kakashi wakes up. For all we know Zabuza could still be out there planning to attack us again."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he groaned as he pushed himself up on his elbows. "So what should we do?"

Naruto looked at his brother. "The only thing you should do is rest." Turning his gaze to Sakura he continued. "At least one of us has to stay with Tazuna at all times to guard him."

Sakura stared down at the floor. "And what can one of us do against someone as strong as Zabuza?"

Naruto slumped down with his shoulders. "We can only do our best." _Which won't be enough should Zabuza attack._

"That and you're going to train."

The trio all looked over at the awakened Kakashi who smiled at them.

"Kakashi-Sensei!" Sakura burst out. "Are you alright?"

Groaning slightly he answered. "Chakra exhaustion is not pleasant but I'll be fine in a week or so." Looking around the room he continued. "I take it were in Tazuna's home?"

"Yes we carried you here." Naruto leaned closer to Kakashi. "What happened between you and Zabuza?"

Kakashi stroked his chin. "I'm afraid he probably will return." Kakashi observed the team's expression. "He was strong, but a Hunter Ninja who had observed our battle took him out. Although I have the suspicion they are working together."

"A Hunter Ninja?" Sakura asked.

"They are Ninja who specialize in hunting down missing-nin. They're single purpose is to hunt down these rogue ninja and destroy their targets body." Kakashi coughed a few times. "But they are supposed to destroy the body on the spot and only take the head with them. This Ninja however took the whole body with him."

"And that's why you think they're accomplices?" Sasuke asked.

Kakashi nodded. "Due to Zabuza's injuries I'd say he also needs a week to recover, giving you guys sometime to train. And if they weren't working together then Gato is likely to send another strong Ninja."

"What kind of training?" Sasuke wondered and he groaned, his injury ached as he changed his position.

"Well you already know how to climb trees." Kakashi smiled. "So now you're going to learn how to walk on water." Kakashi observed Sasuke's groan. "Don't worry Sasuke; you can do this training even with your injury."

Their conversation was interrupted as Tsunami came through to door with several plates of food, after giving one to each of them she left, closing the door as she exited the room. All four of them dug in greedily.

Swallowing a big piece of food Naruto asked. "How come you have the Sharingan Kakashi? Only those of the Uchiha clan should have it."

"It was given to me by a friend." Kakashi lowered his gaze. "But that is a story for another time."

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In a dim lighted room a hunter ninja were in the process of mixing several different herbs while watching over a bedridden Zabuza.

"So you have come back defeated."

Both Zabuza and the hunter ninja turned their head slightly to see Gato standing between two hired bodyguards. The one to the right was shirtless with a black hakama and wore an eye patch over his right eye. The other wore a baggy gray jacket along with black shorts. Both of them had their hands on their sword sheathes in a threatening posture, ready to defend or attack given the order.

"You've disappointed me." Gato walked forward a couple of steps. "You couldn't even avenge your own men, pathetic."

Receiving no response he continued. "I'm paying you good money and you've failed. Perhaps I need to hire someone else?"

Turning around the hunter ninja moved with speed Gato and his men couldn't follow and appeared just in front of Gato, staring down on the short man through the mask.

"And perhaps we should just kill you now and be done with this deal?" The hunter ninja's voice rang in the plain room.

Gato's eyes widened and beads of sweat began to trickle down his face as he took a few stiff steps backwards.

"One more chance!" Gato said as he summoned his courage. "I'll give you one more chance to kill the bridge builder! If you fail, I'll find someone else to do what you could not."

Gato and his bodyguards left immediately after, slamming the door shut on their way out.

"Haku," The bedridden Zabuza turned slightly in his bed. "You didn't have to scare him."

"I know but he needs to know his place." Haku moved back over to the bed and sat down. "But it's still too early to kill him; if we do the hunters will be on us again."

Zabuza smiled. "You're right, but after taking care of the bridge builder, you can kill Gato."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, after paying us his usefulness will end."

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Several hours later Team 7 had moved through the nearby forest to a place where the water was shallower to begin their training. As Naruto entered the clearing the sound of whispering waves and sea grass shushing in the breeze reached his ears, he could almost taste the briny air as he reached the water. The soft sand under his soles felt nice after having his sandals on for such a long time. Kakashi had loaned some stilts to move around with and was about to begin explaining about the exercise.

"If you all take a few steps into the water I'll explain the exercise for you." He waited until they had done so before continuing. "This training method will give you even better chakra control and it is similar to the Tree Climbing Method."

"The trick is to emit a constant stream of chakra from the bottom of your feet and to use the repelling force to walk on the water's surface." He observed the trios concentrated expressions. "This is harder than the Tree Climbing Method because you have to change the amount of chakra being emitted."

Kakashi took a step backwards with his stilts. "Now begin. The first who completes this training should head over to the bridge and guard Tazuna." He said before continuing back to the house.

The trio looked at each other before starting to concentrate; their feet got surrounded by a blue field as they forced chakra to the spot. With no surprise it was Sakura who began to rise first, but only slightly before falling down again and feeling the wet sand under her soles. It was difficult to change the emitted chakra constantly and to keep balance but as time went by they all made progress, with Sakura finishing the exercise first.

She took several steps on the water and then continued over to the ground. "I'm heading over to the bridge then, good luck."

Both Genin still in the water were moving their bodies back and forth trying to keep balance as they continued with the exercise. Both achieved the goal of standing on top of the water about the same time. Only Sasuke's injury made him breathe harder and his energy was very low.

Taking a few steps towards the ground he asked. "Are you coming brother?"

Naruto shook his head. "I'll stay a little while longer and train."

"Suit yourself, but don't stay out too long."

Naruto watched as his brother left and went back to the exercise, practicing it over and over in order to use it without having to think about it, teaching his body to use it on instinct. During his training, Naruto had lost track of time and the sun was beginning to descent.

"So you can use Water walking now, Naruto-kun."

Naruto turned around at the sound; he did not recognize the voice. "Who's there?"

He watched as a tall shadow formed in the tree line and the figure took a step forward into the light. An extremely pale-skinned man with waist-length black hair stepped out; his amber eyes with slits surrounded by purple markings stared at Naruto. The step forward caused his tomoe-shaped earrings to shake slightly, and the plain grey garbs with black pants to change slightly to the wind. Naruto could feel the powerful aura the man produced.

"You've grown quite well." The pale man said as his unnatural long tongue swept passed his lips.

The man chuckled quietly. "My name is Orochimaru of the Legendary Sannin."

Naruto's eyes widened and he took a step back, he had heard from Jiraiya about the three Sannin and how Orochimaru had become a missing-nin but nothing besides that. The white haired Sannin obviously had some bad memories.

"There is no reason to be alarmed; I'm not going to hurt you. In fact, quite the opposite." That unnatural tongue once more found itself outside of the man's mouth.

"What do you want?" Naruto demanded as he turned his body slightly to prepare for any kind of attack.

"It's not about what I want, but what I can offer you." Orochimaru pointed towards Naruto. "I offer what you want the most, power."

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "And what do you know about what I want?"

"I know you want to kill Itachi." Orochimaru continued with his sickly smile. "Do you think you will ever accomplish that with the power you've received from Konoha? You couldn't even defeat Shura on your own."

Naruto's eyes widened as the words struck home. "How do you know that?"

Orochimaru advanced forward in a determined strut and stopped a few meters in front of Naruto. "It is of no matter, but training under the strongest of the three Sannin would give you power, enough power to avenge your clan."

Naruto delayed his response and tilted his head. "I could get power from Konoha too."

Naruto received a dismissing nod. "True, but I have other things to offer you that Konoha can't." Orochimaru crossed his arms. "I know about your birthparents and what happened to them."

Orochimaru waited for a response but received none. "But more importantly I have information on Itachi and his…associates."

Naruto shook his fists and clenched his jaw. "What do you know about Itachi!"

"Quite a bit actually." He lifted his chin slightly. "I also know about those precious eyes of yours, I've seen them before."

Naruto pressed his lips in a fine line and furrowed his brow, taking a deep breath before asking. "And what would you want in return for all this?"

"I only ask for your undisputed loyalty. A small price to pay don't you think?" Orochimaru continued. "Come with me Naruto-kun. Come with me to my own Hidden Village and I will grant you all these things." Orochimaru raised a hand. "Through me you can achieve power greater than anyone in Konoha, you only need to reach out and take it."

Naruto felt his heart pounding, his head swimming. He had just been offered everything he had always wanted. Power to avenge his clan, knowledge about his eyes and finding out more about his biological parents. But the man in front of him was a rogue ninja, whose agenda was still unknown, but he couldn't deny that the proposition interested him, no; it even called to him on a deep level. Still, big parts of him balked at the idea of leaving his brother, even greater parts about leaving without even getting the chance to say good-bye. He considered Kakashi and Sakura, he had started to like Kakashi and Sakura wasn't as annoying as she once was. Could he really abandon them like this, even for this great opportunity?

He had given everything for the team during their short time; he'd helped save their lives against Shura. But in the end, he had always felt held back. The knowledge that he needed help to defeat Shura was evidence of his slow progress. Should they encounter an opponent strong enough to defeat him, than his other teammates would be powerless to save him. They would try, but they would fail. Naruto realized the truth: his team—his friends—could do nothing for him now.

He could only rely on himself, like always, to avenge his clan. He'd be a fool to turn this opportunity down. Naruto took several steps forwards and reached out.

"I…accept your offer."

Orochimaru chuckled. "Good."

"On one more condition." Naruto turned slightly to look at the direction of Tazuna's home. "I need to make sure that Sasuke leaves this place and return to Konoha alive."

"That can be arranged."

Naruto drawled his brows together. "How?"

"I know where Zabuza and his companion are held up." Orochimaru licked his lips. "That companion of his has a… interesting ability."

"A Bloodline Limit?"

Orochimaru nodded. "And I would love to have it in my own village, Otogakure."

Naruto frowned. "I've never heard of Otogakure before."

"I'm not surprised; it is a new village after all." Orochimaru smirked. "Now let's go and take care of your little problem."

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Dressed in a short black robe with green trimmings, dark pants along with a black and white belt, Naruto strode a few meters behind Orochimaru as they strode through the forest. Beneath the robe, he wore his mesh armor for extra protection. The only sound that reached his ears was that of their feet shuffling through detritus and the crackling underfoot as they stepped on a small branch, this part of the forest seemed to be devoid of animal life. The trees stood utterly still, statues in a living museum where no leaf dared to fall. He still had some doubt inside him and he was on edge, this life changing decision brought on that feeling, but the earthly air helped to calm him down somewhat.

As they continued towards their destination, he couldn't help to think about what his life would be like after choosing this new path. He knew somewhat about what his new life would be like but there were still many unknown factors. Joining another hidden village would most likely put him into Konoha's bingo book as a traitor and a missing-nin, and he would probably get a new team to eventually go on missions with, it was a hidden village after all. But these things were not so important, the most important thing was to kill Itachi, everything else was secondary.

Eventually the sound of gushing and splashing water could be heard and soon afterwards the twisting flow of water could be seen. The river was not deep and there were several boulders sticking up from the water's surface. Naruto breathed in deeply through his nose, smelling a mix of wet earth and briny. Using what he learned earlier this day, he followed Orochimaru over the water's surface to the other side.

"We are there soon." Orochimaru announced without even glancing back.

_Good, _Naruto thought. The faster this was over the better he would feel, at least he hoped so. After the river they ventured into the forest on the other side, it was difficult for him to decide how much time passed by but eventually they came upon a cone shaped structure. The building was being held up between two tall trees, and had several smaller beams to support it. A broad archway leading up in a circle was the way to the entrance.

"This is the place?" Naruto whispered while moving to stand beside Orochimaru.

"Yes, follow me."

They began to move closer slowly, it seemed no one was on the balcony keeping watch; in fact to Naruto the place seemed to be empty. When they were close enough, Orochimaru jumped up to the balcony in one giant leap. Naruto had to land somewhat shorter and walk across the buildings wall to reach the balcony, he was careful to not make a sound when he touched down on the wooden floor. This close Naruto realized the structure probably only had one big room instead of several smaller ones, he based it on the no existing windows and the lack of other doors.

Orochimaru gripped the doors handle and walked in, shortly followed by Naruto, the sight before them was a large bed in the middle of the room with a man lying in it and a smaller figure with a mask standing ready to attack beside the bed. Looking closer Naruto recognized the bedridden man as Zabuza and the masked ninja must be the one that saved him in their earlier encounter.

"Who are you?" The masked ninja demanded as Zabuza pulled himself slowly out of the bed, the figures that entered was still hidden in the shadow.

Taking a step forward on the stone floor Naruto first escaped the darkness, watching the sudden expression of understanding form on Zabuza's face.

"You're that kid who was with Kakashi." Zabuza stated as the second figure also walked forward.

Zabuza's eyes widened. "Yo..You're Orochimaru!" The man was easy to recognize with his pale skin and slit eyes, also the man was in his Bingo book.

Orochimaru licked his lips and nodded.

Groaning from the strain of standing up Zabuza asked. "Why are you here?"

"Because of your little friend over there."

Glancing to Haku for an explanation but receiving none he replied. "What do you want with Haku?"

"I am interested in her ability that is all." Smirking he continued. "I want you to come with me Haku."

"I serve Zabuza and no one else!" Haku yelled as she readied several senbon. "I won't go with you."

A long silence formed between the two parties, both waiting and observing for the other to make a move. Just as Orochimaru changed his stance and was about to make a move he was stopped by Naruto's voice.

"Why do you serve Zabuza?"

Haku blinked several times behind her mask. "Because without Zabuza I will be unnecessary."

Naruto was silent for a moment, thinking about the answer. "So you want to be useful? You think serving him will give you purpose?"

"Yes." She said with complete certainty.

"Then serve me and as long as you do, you shall always be cherished and have a purpose." Naruto offered.

Haku remained silent, she wanted to protest fiercely. She would never betray Zabuza but an outburst in this moment could have negative effects on her master.

Greeted with silence, Naruto continued. "Zabuza can barely stand and do you think _you_ can defeat a Sannin?" He took a deep breath. "There is no point in you dying with your master today."

"He is right, Haku" Zabuza's deep voice agreed. "This is an impossible fight for us."

Whipping around she said. "You can't mean…"

"I order you to go with the kid and serve him as your new master, do you understand!"

Haku's chest ached and she felt a heaviness creep over her body as she answered weakly. "Yes." Before going over to Naruto and following him outside, she took one last glance back through the door before shutting it.

Hearing the door close Orochimaru asked. "Why did you agree to it? Obviously she was special to you."

Zabuza stared down at his hands as he answered. "She has been my companion for almost ten years; I owe it to her to make sure she's safe."

"I see." Orochimaru began to advance. "Then it's time we got this over with."

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Walking outside to the balcony, the forest greeted him. The beams from the sun had a hard time reaching down to the ground because of the tall trees; he stopped at the railing and leaned against it with Haku standing beside him.

Glancing to her he asked. "Could you remove your mask?"

Haku reached up to the back and loosened the band holding the mask to her face; Naruto was greeted by a beautiful face, pale skinned and dark brown eyes. Fresh tears were slowly dripping down her cheeks as she stared into the forest.

Naruto put a hand on her shoulder and began to speak in a soothing tone. "He did this to save you, which meant he cared deeply for you." He squeezed her shoulder lightly. "I promise you, it will get easier in time and you're not alone in this."

Haku nodded as the ache in her chest intensified and more tears fell from her eyes, which ended up in an uncontrollable crying.

"It...It hurts so much." She managed to get out.

Unsure what to say, Naruto offered a sad smile and a nod of understanding, still squeezing her shoulder in a steady rhythm. Several minutes passed before she calmed down, the pain in her chest remained but the tears had stopped forming. They remained there in silence until Orochimaru opened the door and walked out while carrying Zabuza's massive broadsword, he observed them but made no remark about the situation.

Instead he asked. "Haku, do you know where Gato is located?"

Nodding she answered. "He has a mansion east of here just outside the forest."

"Take us there." He ordered, and they set out into the forest.

As they walked, Naruto saw many shadows putting him on edge. He passed by some bulky rock outcroppings and tree stumps a couple of times, and the wind slipped through the leaves. Several owl hoots could be heard and he witnessed several hunting birds swooping overhead in the more open parts of the forest. This part of the forest had rich earth and a slight scent of flowers, but it quickly passed as they continued through the forest.

Eventually coming upon the mansion Haku spoke of, the building was located on a small hill overlooking the area. Several people guarded the front gate and a few more up ahead at the building itself.

Looking at the other two, Orochimaru decided to give his new… companions, a test. "Why don't the two of you kill Gato? I'll be waiting here."

Looking at each other, Naruto and Haku made their way closer to the side of the compound and jumped over the wall. A small splashing sound was heard as they landed in the wet grass on the other side, but it wasn't enough for the guards to pick up on. A ninja guarding the place would have noticed it, but Gato it seemed only had ordinary mercenaries on his payroll. They all had several large impressive weapons in different shapes, but against a ninja they would do little good, as seen when several senbon found their way into the guard's necks. As they fell to the ground Naruto became impressed with Haku's skill at using senbon.

With the front gate taking care of, they moved closer to the building, throwing several kunai and senbon as they neared the outer wall. It seemed that money could only give you so much protection. Naruto went down on one knee as he carefully opened the door and took a peek inside, the hall before him was empty and dark. Further inside he saw a door being slightly opened and some light escaped through the gap. Slipping across the hallway over to the open door, Naruto saw Gato inside with two bodyguards.

One was shirtless and the other had a baggy grey jacket. Gato was sitting behind his desk further inside going through some papers, oblivious to the close danger he was in. Without giving a warning, Haku opened the door fully and charged in with impressive speed. Before the bodyguards knew what happened, they had been cut down with their own swords that now resided in Haku's hands.

Gato's face got white and his lips began to tremble. "You! You've betrayed me."

Naruto entered through the door slowly and moved over to stand beside Haku who now had dropped the swords. Seeing the beads of sweat on Gato's forehead and his wide eyes gave some satisfaction to them both. To Naruto, because the man was the reason Sasuke got injured and the miserable state of Wave Country. To Haku, because she had never liked the man and she seriously wanted to inflict pain on someone after all that's happened.

Naruto observed Haku's intense gaze and nodded to her, before taking a few steps back to observe the room. The room was surrounded by many different statues and art, both standing on the floor and hanging from the wall. _This room has to contain a small fortune_, he thought.

He was broken out of his thoughts by Gato's frantic gurgling and shaking as his throat had just been cut; the man was now on the ground reaching for something with his hand. Watching him wriggle and crawl on the ground as his life was passing by, reminded Naruto of an earthworm trying to escape the earth in order to reach freedom. It was disturbingly satisfying to see life leave the man's body, a feeling he had never experienced before.

Naruto wrinkled his brow as he approached Haku. "You alright?"

Haku nodded and turned around slowly. "Let's leave this place."

Naruto was more than happy to comply and the two of them left to rejoin Orochimaru.

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Please let me know what you think.


	7. Chapter 7: Missing

**Chapter 7**

I would like to thank my reviewers, those who added my story to their alerts and favorites, and to all anonymous readers.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

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After leaving Naruto at the water's edge, Sasuke continued in his slow pace back to Tazuna's house. The wound he received by the rogue ninja Shura ached a little as he walked around the many trees separating him from the town, but the pain had been much greater when he first got injured and he was sure he would be completely recovered in a few days. Now sometime after, the battle had been exhilarating. Being pushed to his limit and the feeling of anticipation was new to him, and he liked it. Now he realized why they had to do so many D-rank missions, as Kakashi said, they built up teamwork. And it was teamwork that made them defeat a stronger opponent. Only it didn't have the ending he had hoped for, but they won all the same.

Finally escaping past the tree line, Sasuke decided to see how Sakura was doing on the bridge. As he approached the hammering of metal against metal and cutting intensified. The workers was very busy constructing the bridge, it was their only hope after all. He tried to move over to Sakura but had to dodge several workers running across the bridge with heavy beams and other equipment before he reached her. She was standing on the left side close to the edge and observed as the 'Master bridge builder' worked, it was one of the only places where she wasn't in the way.

Her bored expression changed as he reached her, his mere presence seemed to energize her.

"Did you finish the exercise too?"

"Yeah, Naruto is also finished but he stayed behind."

Sakura nodded. "Then why aren't you with him? I thought you two liked to train together."

Sasuke shrugged. "He wanted to be alone and besides, my injury hurt a little."

"Are you okay? Do you need me to change your bandages again?" She said as her brows wrinkled.

"No I'm fine." He stated as a long silence formed between them. Feeling that it was beginning to be uncomfortable he asked.

"When you chose to be a ninja, did you think it would be like this? Going on tough missions and face other strong ninja."

"I never really thought about it, my thoughts were occupied by something else most of the time." As she finished, Sakura looked away trying to hide her burning cheeks.

Sasuke nodded, not paying attention to her embarrassment. "I always wondered what is it between you and Ino? At times you seem like best friends and the other you want to tear each other's throats out."

Sakura delayed her response and turned her head back. "It's complicated, at first we were friends. Then we became rivals."

"And now?"

"I don't know what we are. All I know is that I miss the time we had before."

Sasuke nodded. "Yeah I know what you mean."

Afraid she had brought up bad memories, Sakura decided to remain silent after that. The two of them spent quite some time there together watching the people go back and forth, carrying different equipment and materials, until Tazuna walked up to them.

"You aren't bored are you?" He said as he carried a large piece of construction metal on his shoulder and putting it down in front of them.

"No of course not." Sakura exclaimed as she observed Tazuna, the man seemed worried.

"Something wrong Tazuna?" she asked.

Tazuna sighed. "I'm just worried about the bridge, I'm afraid several of the men will stop coming." He glanced over the edge. "Some of them want to stop before Gato does something."

Sasuke nodded. "It's understandable that they've lost their courage."

"Yes, but if they want to be free then we need this bridge." Looking back at them he continued. "I'm going back to the town, who wants' to come?"

Sasuke shrugged. "I can go with you."

Going through the city made Sasuke frown as he followed Tazuna wherever he needed to go; this city really was a long way to Konoha's standard. Many of the buildings were dilapidated and there were almost no stores at all.

"I need to bring home some food before we go back." Tazuna said as they made their way to a nearby grocery story, or what passed for a store in this town.

As Tazuna began shopping from the few items available, Sasuke realized he was bouncing his leg. He forced himself to stop, and tried to force calm on himself.

Tazuna noticed it and asked. "Something wrong?"

"I feel… odd."

"Odd? How?"

Sasuke shook his head. "It's as if something is about to happen. I can't explain it, it's probably nothing."

Sasuke forced the feeling aside, it probably came because of the miserable state this people lived in or he was just imagining things. Tazuna finished buying his goods and left the store, Sasuke followed close afterwards as they began to walk down the street again towards the bridge builders home. The strange feeling he had before remained the whole way back.

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Sasuke with Sakura and his Sensei spent the rest of the day inside Tazuna's house, mostly resting and talking about various things with Tsunami and Tazuna. Tazuna liked to talk about how great it was to live in Wave country before Gato showed up and that one day it would be again. Kakashi had asked Sasuke about Naruto and had accepted that he stayed behind to train, but now it was beginning to get late and they still hadn't heard a thing from the Genin.

"Sasuke, can you go and get Naruto. Tell him to food will be gone if he doesn't come back."

Smiling Sasuke exited the house and moved towards the clearing were they practiced water walking. It wasn't dark outside but in a few hours it would, as he got closer to his destination he felt that something was wrong. If someone was training there then there would be some sound, but nothing reached his ears. He fastened his pace and finally came through the trees, only to find the area empty and still. He looked franticly around trying to find some clue as to why his brother wasn't here.

The area was exactly as he remembered it when he left, _there hasn't been a fight._

Rushing back to the house as fast as he could, he slammed the door open. "Naruto is gone!"

All four in the house jumped at his sudden entrance.

"What do you mean?" Kakashi wondered.

"His not at the clearing but there wasn't any sign of a struggle."

"Perhaps Zabuza took him?" Sakura said as she felt her mouth dry.

"I don't know but we need to find him. It's not like him to just leave somewhere without telling me."

Kakashi stood up, he could finally walk without stilts but he was nowhere near a full recovery. Biting his thumb and saying.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu" (Summoning Technique)

A large whit puff of smoke appeared; as it dissipated a miniature pug could be seen.

"Yo Kakashi." Its voice was deep and gruff. "It's been a little while since you summoned me."

"There's no time for pleasantries Pakkun." Kakashi looked over at Sakura. "Could you bring Naruto's backpack here?"

While Sakura ran upstairs Pakkun asked. "What's happened?"

"One in our team has gone missing. I need you to pick up his scent."

Sakura came back down the stairs and sat the pack on the table. Pakkun jumped up and smelled it several times. "Okay I got his scent, follow me."

Pakkun lead them to the clearing and neared the water, he stopped and smelled something else.

"I smell a second scent." He announced. "It's the scent of a snake."

"A snake, what does that mean?" Sakura wondered.

_For Pakkun to smell a snake here it must mean it was large, but the terrain hasn't changed a bit. _Kakashi thought.

"Both you're missing teammate and the snake moved this way." Pakkun pointed to the side with his nose.

"Naruto, his name is Naruto." Sakura explained as they continued through the trees.

Pakkun led them in a fast pace, Sasuke grunted but forced the pain down and kept up with the speed. Kakashi on the other hand had more trouble; he was barely keeping up and was breathing very hard. Eventually they came upon a wooden structure in the forest, and they approached it carefully.

When they moved inside they found the big room to be empty.

"I smell four scents including Naruto's." Jumping to the side he continued. "And one is coming from over there."

The three human was put on edge and went into their attack stances, Kakashi approached slowly further inside. Upon reaching the corner he glanced into the shadow and stiffened. There laid Zabuza, dead.

"It's Zabuza, his dead." He announced to his team.

Sakura's mouth fell open. "Did Naruto do this?"

Kakashi didn't answer and instead observed the room trying to figure out what happened as he panted. It seemed as everything was in its usual place and no signs of a fight.

"I smell three scents going this way." Pakkun said as he walked through a door leading to a balcony.

Lines formed between Sasuke's eyebrows. "So what does this mean? He left here willingly with someone else and a snake?"

Kakashi nodded. "Most likely he left with someone who smell like a snake and then picked up a third person here." He glanced back to the corner. "And they killed Zabuza without a fight."

"But who smell like a snake? This is just so weird." Sakura said as she paced around the room.

"There's only one person I know who uses snakes." Kakashi dropped his gaze. "And that's someone much stronger than me."

"Who?" Sasuke wondered.

Kakahis sighed. "His name is Orochimaru, he is one of the three Sannin. And he is a missing-nin."

Sasuke shook his head and took several steps back. "No, I don't believe it. Naruto wouldn't follow a missing-nin, not willingly."

"In any case, we need to find him quickly." Kakashi walked towards the door, wiping off the sweat from his face as he moved through the door. "Let's go."

The team jumped off the balcony, and Kakashi went down on one knee as he landed. The sweat dripped down his face even though he just cleaned his face, and it was getting hard for him to breath.

"I need to rest, you two can keep going." He took several large breaths. "But if you see a very pale man with Naruto, then leave immediately and come back here. If it's Orochimaru then you're no match for him."

They nodded and continued to follow Pakkun, they moved deeper into the forest at faster pace than before. Sasuke barely registered the surrounding as he pushed himself to go faster; the splashing sound of going over a river was lost to him. A short time afterwards Pakkun stopped at the edge of the forest, in front of them was a large mansion. The house looked creepy as the dark clouds above blocked most of the light. Near the entrance several guards lay sill on the ground and some more up ahead closer to the house.

They entered through the front gate and proceeded up to the house and went inside. The long corridor had several rooms and they looked through each of them, there was a storage room and some other unoccupied rooms. After going through room after room they were reached the last one, furthest to the left. Sasuke opened it and walked inside, they sight before him made him flinch. Two bodies lay in front of a desk with two pools of blood, their swords lying nearby. He forced himself to go forward to the desk; he only saw two legs sticking out from it.

_Oh no!_ He rushed forward and the body came into view. Sasuke released the breath he didn't realize he was holding. The body was not his brother but that of a tiny fat man who had his throat cut, the body still had an impression of extreme fear on his face.

"Is he…" Sakura didn't want to ask.

"No, it's not him."

Sasuke turned around and went towards the door. "We need to hurry."

As they exited through the outer door they were met with hard rain. Both Sakura and Sasuke ran out onto the courtyard, but were forced to stop as Pakkun sat just inside the house.

"What are you doing?" Sasuke asked forcefully.

"That rain… we can't follow his scent anymore." Pakkun looked apologetic at them. "Besides, before we go after Naruto, we should go back and tend to Kakashi first."

Sasuke clenched his fists, _brother were are you?_

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Naruto raised his head and observed the blanket of dark clouds overhead, the fat droplets left dime sized wet patches on the ground. The damp patch quickly spread into a uniform of wetness. The local smells disappeared with the rain, leaving a fresh crisp scent in the air. The rain brought with it cold, creating a clammy feeling of discomfort and heaviness as his soaked clothes adhered to his skin. But for all these things, he continued down the road with Haku beside him and Orochimaru in front. The latter was carrying the massive broadsword on his back while Haku was staring intensely at it as they walked.

As they moved forward, the gentle plonking of the rain hitting the earth began to increase to a more forceful drumming. The road they walked on was surrounded by trees on both sides, casting even more shadow and darkness to the area. None of them spoke as they moved farther and farther away from Tazuna's hometown, Orochimaru was taking them to the Land of Sound. To accomplish that they had to either travel through The Land of Fire, or go through several other countries. Orochimaru had chosen to follow the coast of The Land of Fire; eventually it would bring them close to the Land of Hot Water. The Land of Hot Water had no Hidden Village of their own and would be a safe place for them to travel through, said country also bordered to The Land of Sound in the west.

They had been traveling for about an hour before the rain stopped and they could pick up the pace, now jumping from tree branch to tree branch. He had tried to have some small talk with Haku several times, and few times they did talk quite a lot. But Haku's thoughts weren't quite there yet, causing many conversations to die quickly. Naruto couldn't help to feel impressed with her, but also feel sadness for her, impressed by her strength to continue just after losing Zabuza, and sadness that she had to experience the pain of loss.

Looking over at her he said. "I, better than anyone know the pain of loss. I lost my entire family in one night, so if you want to talk about it sometime. I'm here."

She gave him a sad smile and nodded, before they continued their journey in silence.

Three days later and they had passed into the Land of Hot Water; here the weather was much warmer and brighter. The warm beams of light felt nice on his skin as he watched a rather small village appear in his field of vision. It had no protective walls like most villages; the entire village was surrounded by high cliffs. As they neared it, Naruto could finally read the sign hanging over the entrance. It said, Yugakure.

The village it seems was famous for its great hot spring. As they walked through the village, Orochimaru began to explain how Otogakure was organized.

"Otogakure is not one Hidden Village like all the other Hidden Villages. Instead it's divided into four main branches, south, west, north and east." He explained as he stared straight ahead. "Of course there are several towns of civilians who make up Otogakure's main source of income."

"What's specific about the bases?" Naruto wondered.

"A Jounin can choose where he wants to train his team and where to accept missions; the alternatives are the base in west, south and east."

"What about north?"

Orochimaru chuckled. "That base is special, and only those who have my approval can go there."

Naruto raised his brow and changed the subject. "So how many Jounin is there?"

"Not many, but the few Otogakure has produced is strong, it takes quite a bit of skill to be a Jounin you know."

"Speaking of skill, when will you start my training?"

Orochimaru chuckled. "Soon, you better prepare yourself for that time."

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The trio had just arrived at the east base of Otogakure, it consisted of a town consisting of civilians and with an underground base were the ninja usually occupied. The town was like any other, but compared to Tazuna's hometown, this one was much fresher and lively. The town lay with its back against a mountain and it was there Orochimaru led them, there they found an entrance to the underground base.

They slowly walked through the dimly lit corridors; many shinobi bowed their head as they saw Orochimaru walk passed them. Eventually he led them to two rooms opposite of each other.

"These two will be your temporary courters." Orochimaru looked over at Haku. "Why don't you familiar yourself with the room while I have a chat with Naruto."

Haku nodded and went inside one of the rooms.

"Now let's talk, follow me."

The two of them continued back down the corridor and continued to cross several more before they eventually found themselves on a training ground.

"Now I promised I would start your training." Orochimaru stared at Naruto. "But I don't have much time, so you have to choose what you want to go over."

"Not much time?"

"No, there's something I have to do. But I'll return in a few weeks, until then I suggest you train."

Naruto nodded. "Then tell me about Itachi."

Orochimaru shook his head. "No."

"No! What do you mean no?"

"There would be no point in telling you about him as you are now." He smiled. "When you're stronger, then I'll tell you."

"Fine! Then tell me what you know about my eyes." Naruto demanded. "You said you've seen them before."

"I have, the one I met could control other bodies. I don't know how but he had managed to insert his Rinnegan into different bodies."

"Insert it?" Naruto asked in disbelief.

Orochimaru nodded. "I only ever saw two bodies, one of them I knew since before to control gravity, it is an amazing ability. I don't know the abilities of the other; it's possible he too could do that."

_Control gravity perhaps that is what I did back in Wave. It must be gravity that did 'That' technique too._ Naruto thought.

"Anything else?"

"According to legend, the Rinnegan gifts its user with the ability to master the six basic elements. Fire, Wind, Lightening, Earth, Water and Yin-Yang. And it is said that a Rinnegan user can in theory learn any technique."

Naruto nodded. "Jiraiya said the same thing."

Orochimaru didn't seem shocked at hearing that. "And have my old teammate taught you anything?"

"Mostly fire and water." Naruto explained.

Orochimaru nodded and went to one of the closets at the edge of the room, when he came back he had a jar full of leaves in his hands and a piece of paper.

"Channel some chakra into this." He gave Naruto the paper. "If you want to master Wind Jutsu, then you have to cut these leaves with you chakra."

Naruto furrowed his brow but did as requested. The paper was cut into four pieces, one wrinkled; one was put on fire, one got soggy and the last crumbled.

"It would seem the legend was true." Orochimaru licked his lips. "Now I need to leave."

"Mind telling me where you're going?"

Orochimaru chuckled. "I'm going back to Konoha to visit an old friend." He said before leaving the room.

Now alone Naruto began to work on cutting cleanly through the leaves with his chakra.

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Sarutobi Hiruzen sat behind his desk going through some papers; it was a good day for the older man. Little paper work, good weather and with a pipe in his mouth the day was almost perfect. His ears perked up as he heard the hushed footsteps of three frantic ninja. He straightened his posture just as Team 7 seven walked through the door.

"Team 7 is reporting back, Hokage-sama."

The old Hokage looked past Kakashi and observed the Genin behind him. "Did something happen to Naruto?"

"Mission accomplished, Hokage-sama." Kakashi replied in a low tone, seeing his questioning gaze he summoned his courage and continued. "We protected the bridge builder and brought him back to Wave in one piece. But Uchiha Naruto is missing."

"What!" Hiruzen's eyes narrowed. "What happened?"

"It would seem he left with someone," Kakashi swallowed hard. "And it appears to be with Orochimaru."

Hiruzen blinked several times, disbelief clear on his face. "I don't believe it. Are you sure Kakashi?"

"Sadly yes, it seemed as he left on his own free will."

Both Sasuke and Sakura were staring down on the floor and Kakashi had his shoulders slumped down.

"Then I have no choice but to classify him as a missing-nin." The old Hokage announced.

"You can't do that!" Sasuke pleaded. "You have to give us the chance to bring him back."

"I'm sorry Sasuke, but I have to do this." Looking at the young Uchiha he added. "Kakashi, we need to update the Bingo Book and to specify to bring him back alive."

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Naruto quickly realized that summoning chakra into your hand and trying to cut the leaf was not enough; he had done many attempts to make a cut into the leaf but with no progress. He had the leaf in hand and commanded his chakra to the leaf but it didn't want to cut it. He theorized that because he had all the elemental affinities, his chakra didn't automatically know what to do in this situation. A normal user with wind affinity could most probably use their chakra in this exercise and it would on some level know what to do, just because the chakra only had one strong affinity. Of course it was just a theory he had, but it forced him to try different things.

Eventually he found that if he formed a mental image in his mind, in the form of a scissor, and trying to make the blades as sharp and thin as possible, he could cut the leaf. It seemed a clear mental image of what he wanted to happen was necessary to learn the leaf splitting exercise. Naruto found that it was easier to master the fire element then wind, most likely because of the Uchiha's inborn natural talent with the fire element. But as time went by he managed to cut several leafs cleanly through, he felt a rush of satisfaction as another leaf was cut.

Mastering this exercise might not make him a master of the wind element, but he had come a long way in a very short amount of time. Once more Naruto gave his eyes the credit for his fast progress; sure he too needed some talent to learn ninjutsu this fast. But he was sure the Rinnegan heightened his talent in ninjutsu based exercises to unnatural levels. He was sure the Rinnegan had other abilities too; The Sage of The Six Paths did have them after all, but he had come to refer to his eyes as 'The Ultimate Eye of Ninjutsu', just because of his great affinity to the art.

Happy with his progress, Naruto left the training room and exited through the door. As he walked down the corridor he had to stop when he came upon a crossing, he didn't quite remember the way back to his room in the dark, stony corridors. He tried to remember and decided to take a right, and follow it further down, feeling very stupid as he walked. After three wrong turns and a lot of walking, he finally found the way back to his room. Instead of going into his own room, he knocked on Haku's door. Receiving no response, he knocked again.

The door finally opened slowly and Haku came into view.

"Where you asleep? I knocked a few times."

Haku blinked hard a couple of times. "Yeah I must have dozed off."

"You feel alright?"

"It feels like someone has scraped out my gut with a trowel, besides that I'm fine." Haku replied as she gave him a sad smile.

Naruto nodded. "Once, I knew that feeling very well."

"How did you move past it?"

"At first I tried to drown myself in learning jutsu from my family scrolls." Naruto stroked his chin. "After a while I realized the truth, that I would never be free of the pain until I had revenge." He paused, considering what he had just said. "Yes," he repeated. "In the end, vengeance would set me free and give me strength."

"I see," Haku lowered her gaze. "I have always believed that a person becomes truly strong when they have someone to protect, and that there is no stronger motivator to strength then protecting those who are important to you."

Naruto remained silent for a little while. "I guess we'll find out which philosophy is the better in the future."

"Yeah I guess we will."

After staring at each other for a few seconds Naruto asked. "So do you want to come and check out the town? There are some things I need to buy."

Haku nodded and the two of them began to move down the corridor. When they walked up the stairs and out of the entrance, Naruto felt the hair follicles rise and his skin tingle under the heat. The warmth of the sunlight brought a pleasant sensation as he walked towards the main street of the town. He and Haku walked slowly side by side, Naruto turned his head back and forth, searching. It was impossible for Haku not to notice it.

"So what are you looking for?"

"There's something I need to buy."

Haku looked to her right. "There's a weapons shop over there."

Naruto smiled. "Normally I would go there; I do have an interest in weapons. But a weapons shop won't have what I'm looking for."

Haku furrowed her brows as they continued down the street. "So what _are_ you looking for?"

"This!" Naruto pointed to a shop farther ahead with several kids outside. When they got closer, Haku realized it was a shop for children with toys, candy and the like.

"What would you want in here?"

Naruto didn't reply and instead walked inside the shop, standing just inside he observed the content of the shop. Something to the far right caught his eye and he walked over there with Haku close behind. Scanning the contents once more he picked up several plastic packs of the same sort and several balls.

"You can't be serious!" Haku crossed her arms. "You brought me here to buy water balloons and rubber balls."

Naruto chuckled. "It's not what it looks like."

"Uhu, if you wanted to play with the other children you could just have said so."

Naruto sneered. "Yeah very funny, but I need them for something else."

"For what?"

"Oh I'll show you one day and when that day comes, you won't think of this to be so funny."

"If you say so."

Naruto smirked. "Oh I do."

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Please let me know what you think.


	8. Chapter 8: Discovery

**Chapter 8**

I would like to thank my reviewers, those who added my story to their alerts and favorites, and to all anonymous readers.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

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Two weeks later.

Uchiha Naruto was currently standing in the middle of one of the underground training rooms located in the east base of operations, this morning he had begun training for a new technique. The old pervert Jiraiya had explained this technique to him but they never had the chance to actually train. Apparently it was a strong short range ninjutsu based attack and was classified as A-rank. The old pervert never did say its name thou.

_What did the old pervert say?_ Naruto thought. _The first step was…the water balloons…rotation._

Picking up a water balloon with his right hand, he tried to force the water to rotate without moving his hand. As he focused, he witnessed the hand sized balloon move around, it's plastic shell bending. But it refused to pop, he forced the water to flow faster but the balloon still denied him the satisfaction of seeing it explode. He forced down his chakra flow and watched as the balloon calmed down, what he did obviously didn't work.

_Perhaps if I do this._ And he began once more…

Four hours later and there were an extremely frustrated Naruto trying to break the same water balloon, the small balloon refused to pop and stared smugly at him. No matter how much he forced the water to rotate, he couldn't get it to pop. This time he tried to rotate it counterclockwise and it did pick up more speed, the ball was now in the shape of an egg but the result was still the same.

Naruto took several deep breaths and did the only thing left to do. If rotating the flow clockwise didn't work, if rotating it counterclockwise didn't work, than the only method left was to do both at the same time. It took him about a minute to form different layers inside the ball with different water flow, the rushing sound of water intensified as he formed them. When he felt he had sufficient control of the layers, he forced them to speed up. The end result brought him a rush of satisfaction as the balloon popped, splashing water all over his arm. He did the exercise until the pack with balloons was empty, when he finished the floor was damp and several torn pieces of the balloons was lying everywhere.

Content with the success of the first step, Naruto began to work on another jutsu that he has had on his mind for some time.

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Naruto panted heavily on his knees and wiped off the sweat from his forehead as he attempted to stand up but failed. He sat there for a moment, his lungs sucking in air desperately. His head felt heavy, as if it's wobbling on his neck. After a few seconds his blurry vision returned to normal and even though the fatigue made it hard for him to move, he formed a giant smile. He had just managed to perform 'That' jutsu on will, and the feeling of satisfaction that he always felt when completing a jutsu, spread throughout his body.

He struggled to his feet, his exhausted muscles protested against the movement. The sudden noise of the door opening made him turn around.

"What the hell happened here?"

In his field of vision entered Haku, the two of them spent quite a lot of time together. They did enjoy each other's company, but they also didn't really know anyone else yet. Most of the time they trained in one of the underground training rooms or they discussed how different techniques could be used. It was during one of these training sessions that Haku showed him her Bloodline Limit, the ability to fuse wind and water chakra to create Ice. According to Haku, only those of the Yuki Clan could have this ability.

That however was not the only thing Naruto was impressed with; her sheer speed was also impressive, so much in fact that he didn't think he could keep up with her if it wasn't for his eyes. The speed coupled with her intimate knowledge of the human body made her a dangerous opponent.

"Training." Naruto stated flatly as he tried to straighten his posture but failed.

Rushing over to him, Haku pulled his arm over her shoulder and helped him walk over to a bench close to the door. As they walked she observed the room, training posts and other equipment lay scattered all over the room. Most of the things were broken; the surrounding told her that a serious battle had taken place in here.

"Just what kind of training do you do when I'm not around?"

Naruto grunted as they sat down. "Oh nothing special."

The hard wooden bench actually felt good for his exhausted limbs and he positioned his head to lean against the wall. It was a long time since he felt like this. Haku's bended to the side and reached into her weapons pouch and pulled out a small jar with decent sized black pills.

"Here, take this." She said as she gave him one pill. "It will replenish your stamina and chakra."

Nodding he bit down on the pill and immediately regretted the action, he had never tasted anything so bitter before. Haku only laughed at his pained expression and told him to swallow it fast, which he did. It did not take long before he felt himself to be reenergized and the fatigue to dull somewhat.

"What was that? I feel much better now."

"Just something I learned from Zabuza." Haku leaned back against the wall as she spoke. "It is said that this pill will allow the user to keep on fighting for three days and three nights without rest."

"Really?"

Haku smiled. "Not really."

"Oh, that's too bad then." Naruto slumped with his shoulders. "How come Zabuza knew about it? I've never heard about a pill that can do this."

"Most of Kirigakure's ANBU learn how to make this pill, but not everyone. Usually only medic-nin knows how to mix the necessary ingredients."

Naruto nodded and let a silence form between them as he rested. And it remained until the door to the room was pushed open, creating a loud pop as wood made contact with stone. A large tall man entered wearing purple attire with black skin tight clothes underneath. His face was hidden behind a black mask and his forehead protector which held the symbol of a sound note.

"You guys Naruto and Haku?" He wondered.

"Yes."

"Orochimaru wants to see you in his private study." The man stated before leaving without waiting for a response, leaving the door open as he passed through.

"Well let's go see him then." Naruto said as they both stood up.

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Naruto knocked a couple of times on the door leading to Orochimaru's private study before opening the door and walking inside. The equilateral room had bookcases along the sides with a rather large desk farther back in the middle, their pale Kage sat behind it going through some scrolls in the dim lighted room.

"You called for us." Naruto said and made Orochimaru look up from the scrolls.

"Yes, we have received a mission request from Kusagakure." He put away the scroll in front of him and picked up another one. "A C-rank bordering on B-rank."

"And what does it involve?"

"The client is Kusagakure themselves; they have had problems with a specific group of bandits."

Naruto raised a brow. "Why don't they deal with it themselves then?"

"Their forces are occupied with an ongoing war; they are spread too thin, that's why they want us to take care of it."

"And where are these bandits located?" Haku wondered.

"Kusagakure's forces are fighting with Ishigakure to the south west; these bandits are hold up somewhere in the mountains to the north."

"I have to ask, why this request didn't come to the western base. It's much closer."

Orochimaru smirked. "Because it did, but I feel this is a good opportunity to test your abilities. If you're up for it that is?"

"We'll take it." Naruto said without hesitation, he had been waiting for an opportunity to get away from the base. "But we're not officially Oto-nin yet."

"It is of no concern, accomplish this and it will be taken care off afterwards."

Before they left, Naruto asked. "How was your trip to Konoha, I'm amazed you even managed to get in."

Orochimaru's unnatural long tongue found itself licking his lips. "You only need the right opportunity, that's all."

"You didn't by any chance see my brother?"

"Unfortunately not, but I'm going back there in a month or so."

Naruto raised a brow. "Why? What's so important in Konoha a month from now?"

"An event happens then, and I wouldn't miss it for the entire world."

With that Naruto and Haku left as Orochimaru's uncontrollable laughter echoed in the room.

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Two men were currently walking down the road with the warm sun shining down upon them; the taller of the two were carrying a body over his right shoulder with ease. They had followed this road for awhile now, the tall man knew that the electricity pylons on his left meant that they were close to their destination. Beyond the pylons, a large forest could be seen. To his right, open fields greeted his sight. Being here always made him a bit angry, that emotion always came to the surface when he was in The Land of Fire.

The first time he was here, he fought the first Hokage. He had failed his mission to assassinate the man, but he considered the battle to be a draw. This was not the source of his anger however, but the repercussions of failing made him into a missing-nin. What waited him when he returned to his home village was severe punishment. In response to this treatment, he had killed several elders and left the village. Both villages were to blame and deserved his wrath.

It was then he realized that money was the only thing you could count on. Money would never fail you, and the world was to a great extent ruled by it. He was even sure that Hell itself was run by money. It was because of this that he and his unfaithful and misguided partner was in The Land of Fire.

Finally he saw the large stone building farther ahead; he quickened his pace, now walking a few meters in front of his partner. As he reached the building, the tall man went for the door.

"Hey, where the hell are you going?" His silver haired partner asked, somewhat annoyed.

Receiving no answer, he followed his partner inside the building. This section of the building seemed to be a large bathroom.

The taller man walked up to a urinal and put his hand on the wall, a few seconds later a passage opened up.

"This is the exchange point. Wait here." He stated before walking inside the dark room.

It did not take long for him to see his contact, Zangei, standing farther ahead with an open drawer.

The bald man known as Zangei nodded. "Place him here, Kakuzu"

Kakuzu did as requested and waited for confirmation. Zangei scanned the body and turned a few pages in his book.

"It's him alright." Kakuzu reassured.

"So it seems."

The bald man said as he walked farther inside the room with the book and placed it on a desk. As he walked back he carried a briefcase and handed it to Kakuzu.

"5,000,000 ryo as promised."

Kakuzu opened the brief case and began to count the money. Zangei had done business with Kakuzu before and knew he always counted the money; the man did seem to be obsessed with it.

"While you're counting, perhaps you would like to get an update on your bingo book? Free of charge."

Kakuzu only grunted as he finished counting, and waited for the other man to bring him a black book. The man flipped a few pages and gave the book to him.

"Ooh that's interesting." Kakazu raised his brows. "And how did you come upon this?"

"I have contacts in almost all Hidden Villages, thought you might be interested in this one. He could be a great bounty one day." Zangei nodded slightly. "I look forward to our next meeting."

Kakuzu did the same and left the hidden room. He found his partner sitting outside in the sun, playing with his three bladed Scythe.

"What the hell took you so long?" He demanded.

"Shut up, Hidan. I just learned something interesting." Kakuzu smirked behind his mask. "I wonder how Itachi will react when he hears about this."

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Naruto had just finished preparing himself for his new mission, now he wore a long black robe with a red line running down the centre along with armor that covered only his mid-section, the standard pouch he got in Konoha hung from his belt only now it was colored in black. Like usual it was filled with kunai, explosive tags and other ninja equipment. Seeing nothing left to do, he went for the door and slipped out. Haku was already standing there waiting for him.

She wore her normal moss green outfit, with a striped turtle-necked sweater and a split skirt in matching color that reached her knees. On the outside she wore a green blue short kimono; Naruto had actually never seen her with any other clothing since he met her. They nodded to each other and began to move towards the exit, their journey would take two days and such they would be forced to make camp for the night. The distance could probably be covered in one day if they went at full speed, but there were no reason to exhaust themselves just before the mission.

The two of them began their journey to Kusagakure in a steady pace, walking side by side on the road. It did not take long before they came upon the forest of Kangshu, instead of following the road around they chose to take a shortcut across the forest. The forest was similar to the one in Wave country, but instead of being utterly still, these trees lashed and crashed against each other like drum sticks in the hands of a giant. The light was fading, creating new shadows and dark patches around them as they followed their path. In consensus, they decided to make camp for the night.

Naruto reached for his pack and put it on the ground, another bag landed hard beside him making him glance to his right.

"You put up our tents; I'll set out a couple of traps." Haku said.

Naruto raised a brow. "Paranoid much?"

"I've lived in the wild for a long time, and you can never be too careful."

Naruto gave a half-hearted shrug before taking out the tents and beginning to set them up. He finished about the same time as Haku came back, with not much else to do both decide they needed their rest.

Naruto woke up with a groan, slight pain in his back the cause. Sleeping on uneven ground was not something he would recommend, thou hearing the leaves rustling in the morning was quite calming. He opened his tent and let the earthy air fill his lungs, along with an unfamiliar smell. On the other side of the camp, Haku sat eagerly paying attention to the pot hanging over the campfire. Naruto walked slowly and the closer he got the more he wished he was on the other side of the forest. His pained expression did not go unnoticed by his female teammate.

"I know it smells bad, but it has many nutrients. If you're alone in the woods and with no other food, this can save your life." Haku stated as a matter of fact. "Come on try it."

Naruto took the bowl given by Haku and put a small bit in his mouth. He squeezed his eyes shut as he swallowed.

"Damn that tastes bad."

Haku shrugged. "You get used to it."

"Hopefully I won't have to."

The rest of breakfast went on in silence, Naruto having too much focus on keeping the food down his stomach, and Haku was busy with collecting the various traps she put out the night before. When she came back Naruto asked.

"What did you put in this exactly?"

"Various berries, nuts, mushrooms and seeds." Haku began to disassemble her tent. "It was one of the first things I learned as a Shinobi."

"So it was Zabuza who trained you?" As the words left his mouth, Naruto regretted having said them. "I'm sorry; I shouldn't have brought him up."

"No its alright. All I ever wanted was to be Zabuza's tool, to be needed." She paused and smiled. "But now I realize that he loved me, in his own way."

Naruto nodded in understanding, he observed Haku, and she looked at peace with herself. To him, she seemed strong. The knowledge that her important person loved her seemed to make her complete and powerful, even though he was no longer with her. It made him question if he had done the right choice in leaving his brother and Konoha behind. Naruto shook the thought away, and he realized he can't think in 'What ifs'. There are only choices and you have to live with the consequences. With new found clarity, he packed up his things and they set out.

Several hours later, they traveled across a large empty field with blooming green grass. The warmth of the sun caused a pleasing sensation throughout their bodies as they continued in silence. This feeling was not something Naruto had experienced before; it almost made him forget why he was there in the first place. Suddenly he realized he was alone, turning around he saw Haku standing still.

"What are you doing?"

Haku furrowed her brow. "Don't you smell that?"

Naruto breathed in long through his nose. "Yeah it smells like ash."

"And death."

Without a second glance, both of them entered a full sprint up the hill towards the source of the smell. They arrived at the top at the same time and the sight before them was not expected. Further down there was a village or rather, what little remained of a village. Without wasting time, they continued on and arrived at the village a couple of minutes later. Scorched houses and logs where everywhere, some logs where in various stages of burning but on the way of dying out. That however was not the first thing that caught Naruto's eye, several bodies lay out in the streets. At the sight of them, the smell of death hit him hard. He moved in closer to one of the bodies, a young man in his early twenties by the looks of it, and turned him around to better see his body. Judging by his wounds, the man was killed by a sword or a large knife.

"Naruto, come here."

Haku stood a bit further up, observing the scene. "I don't think Shinobi did this."

"Me neither." Naruto pointed back to the dead man. "He was probably killed by a large knife, and I can't see any shuriken or other ninja weapons around."

Haku nodded and pointed to the side. "Yes, and over there is someone who doesn't fit in with the rest of the bodies."

Naruto walked over the spot; this man had black body armor along with a long katana in his hand. The armor looked to be samurai armor; and the man seemed to have died from a wound on his neck.

"Most likely the bandits we were hired to take out did this."

Naruto nodded and was about the answer when a small rustling sound escaped from one of the buildings; he reached for his pouch and pulled out a kunai. Haku was already ready to unleash several senbon from her deadly hands.

A figure stood in the door opening, covered in shadows. The figure took three small steps forward and entered the light. What greeted their eyes was not what they had expected, before them stood a girl about Naruto's age. The most unusual thing about her was her pink hair. It was short, pointy and very unkempt on her right side while it was long and combed on her left side. Her glass covered eyes darted nervously back and forth between them.

"Hello, we mean you no harm." Naruto took a step forward and put away his kunai. "Is this your village?"

The girl seemed to concentrate for a moment before nodding.

"How did you survive?" This time it was Haku who asked.

She swallowed hard. "I…I could tell that a huge group of people were coming, then I hid."

"And how exactly did you know they were coming?"

"I sensed their chakra, it was violent and dark."

Naruto had heard of chakra-sensing ninja, or sensor for short, they could detect targets from great distance and differentiate characters by their chakra alone. Having a sensor on your team had many advantages and this skill was not something everyone could learn, you had to be born with the talent.

Naruto raised a brow. "If you can sense chakra, then why did you come out and greet us?"

The girl turned her attention to Naruto. "Because both your chakra's is warm and calm. And you didn't lie."

"Didn't lie?"

"Yes, that you don't mean me any harm."

Naruto and Haku looked at each other before turning back.

Haku then asked. "You mean, you can tell by our chakra? That's amazing."

The girl nodded and lowered her gaze to the ground.

Naruto walked over to the girl and extended is hand. "I'm Naruto."

The girl hesitantly shook it. "I'm Karin."

"Well Karin, do you think you can help us find the ones who did this?"

The girl now known as Karin nodded, and pointed towards North West from the village.

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Well, here's another chapter. It's been a while, hope you enjoy it.

Please let me know what you think.


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